As an Ending
by Yvi-sama
Summary: Life is from birth to death. Living is what each of us makes of the time inbetween. Main characters: MikotoxBlank, Dagger/GarnetXZidane. Warning: long story encompassing more than 30 years total
1. Prologue

Original version: March 14th, 2010

Re-edited version published: October 16th, 2011

Extended version published: October 16th, 2011

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**Summary**

Life is from birth to death. Living is what each of us makes of the time in between.

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**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company there would be a superb FFIX remake!)

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**Prologue**

"There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go."

Author Unknown

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"I failed to protect you once, I won't leave your side this time!"

"Blank..." the blond watched him with a stern expression that softened slowly. Years of battle and guild had covered his warm and adventurous spirit with a hard shell of emptiness and responsibility.

"I agree," Zidane looked troubled," but I don't see an alternative. On the long run, Gaia will be destroyed, unless we persuade them to abandon Terra!"

"Why would they even listen to you two? That's suicide!"

"They wont!" a quiet voice put in and all heads turned to young man.

"But they will listen to us! We are outside the hierarchy, they'll have to."

"Jonah, Robin, no! There is no way –" Zidane roared, mimicking his bro's glare. This was their battle, not their children's.

* * *

Many years earlier.

It was very late at night in Alexandria and the streets were left empty after another busy day and its citizens still had a couple of peaceful hours until the sunlight would wash the darkness away and present them with a new day full of surprises.

Everyone dreamed away or so one would think; General Beatrix knew better. As the proud warrior walked through the abandoned corridors of the castle, her candle being the only light source at sight, she already knew what she would find once she reached the small chamber at the end of the stone hallway. After being permitted inside the royal study, her eyes focused on a slender girl who seemed more than a little lost on the big, heavily ornamented chair in front of a neatly kept desk.

"Your Highness," the woman said in an even tone, "midnight has passed. Maybe you should rest yourself, tomorrow's agenda will be very demanding."

"Thank you, Beatrix." said the young queen with a tired smile, which only darkened the rings underneath her eyes. "I will retire to my bed chamber as early as this matter is dealt with. You may leave and get some rest yourself."

"As you wish. Good night." The General bowed and left the room, knowing she would return in an hour or two to carry the young monarch into the royal bed chamber herself.

The brunette regent rubbed her eyes, stifled a yawn and forced her tired mind to focus on the matters at hand. She hated to cause the people around her to worry. However she knew she could not help it this time, for she needed to keep herself occupied. Any lack of occupation would leave her mind time to wander. And she knew from experiences it would drift to thoughts of _him_...

"Focus!" she chided herself and continued working for another chime before her consciousness was finally claimed by a dreamless slumber.

* * *

Half a moon later, a very pale Garnet Till Alexandros closed her chamber doors in a rush, turned the key and starred at the worn, fawn colored envelope in her hands.

"Queen regent Garnet Till Alexandros XVII, Southern continent, Alexandria."

The formal addressee was nothing out of the ordinary for she received several letters in this fashion every day. But those aristocrats sent their message boys to deliver them. This one however had been given to her by a very tired looking Moogle who, although he could hardly stand, had insisted loudly on handing the document to "No one but tha' Queen herself, kupo!".

At first she had expected another one of Vivi's monthly reports about the Blackmages' progress, but dropped that thought as soon as she noticed the unfamiliar, almost too perfect handwriting on the front.

The endless possibilities of the parchment's contend filled her with dread and overwhelming fear. She was unaware of the alarmed glances she had received from her guards and hardly remembered her (in retrospective very rude) cancellation of all the day's meetings.

Shaking hands opened the undecorated seal.

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**Author's Note**

This is the re-published version of the prologue. What did I change? Mainly false spelling and grammar. I also added a small scene and smoothed out weird sounding sentences.


	2. Oeil Vert

Original version posted: 20th of March 2010

Re-edited version posted:

**Author's note**

This chapter is dedicated to FaithStarLight for being a wonderful reviewer!

Todays accompanying music is "Oeil Vert" from the FFIX OST!

**Disclaimer:**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company there would have been a funny and kinda awkward scene of Zidane and Dagger climbing up the Iifa Tree)

Chapter 1 – Oeil Vert

"Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse"

B. Springsteen

_May it please your Majesty,_

_hereby I like to inform your Majesty about an alteration of the whereabouts of fifty three genomes._

_The new residence shall be inside the Terran heritage Oeil Vert on the Western Continent._

_We are deeply grateful for the support your Majesty granted our settlement._

_Yours faithfully_

_Mikoto_

Garnet closed the letter for what seemed to be the myriad-th time and sighed heavily. At first she had felt relieved about the letter's content for it didn't contain any... unwanted information. She had hoped the new inhabitants of the Outer Continent – now called the Eastern Continent - would find something regarding his whereabouts near the dried out roots that had at one time been the soul thieving Iifa Tree.

In the beginning it had been her greatest fear they might only find his body, but as time went on and weeks turned into months, she learned that not knowing was even worse. She always expected him to wait for her at the next corner. He never did.

Now, after far more than a year, she craved for any kind of disclosure. It would allow her to rejoice and bless every god available or to finally give her heart the permission to break and grieve.

While she thought she leaned against the small airship's window and let her eyes wander over the snow covered mountain peaks as they passed them.

After she read Mikoto's note, the young Queen decided to pay the Genomes a visit that was more then overdue. Garnet sighed. She felt guilty for not visiting earlier, the last time had been about a month after the final battle. But the resemblance all Terran shared had just been too much for her to handle, but had not hindered her from supporting the little village with everything they needed.

The letter had been written about a week before its delivery which was very quick considering the Moggle had to cross a good part of the ocean and half of a continent with nothing but two short legs and a pair of tiny purplish-pinkish wings. The little thing had been sleeping for two days straight and ate about three times his own weight.

The new royal airship "The Grace" had taken him back to Madain Sari before they headed to Black Mage Village. Upon their first arrival, Vivi had asked the Genomes if they would like to look for a new name that would include them, but Mikoto - being the only one responding to the little mage - declined the offer and therefore the name remained unchanged.

The Mages had been delighted to see the airship and gave the whole crew a warm welcome. Garnet knew from Vivi's letters about the added cottages but not about their new inhabitants, which explained her confused expression as she came face to hat with a couple of smaller Mages with big brimmed straw hats.

Vivi was very talkative today and showed her around happily. By the time the sun met the horizon he told her of the Genome's departure.

"I don't know why they left all of a sudden..." Vivi said in a sad voice and looked down, "They always stayed to themselves and continued searching f-for..." he swallowed hard and continued while his eyes starred at the direction he knew were the Iifa Tree's remains. "They stopped their search some time ago and Mikoto told me about 'their' decision to move to that place K-Kuja once sent us."

Garnet hugged the mage affectionately. She knew Vivi felt terribly because he couldn't make their friend's dream – an integration of the Genomes – come true and therefore he felt terribly as did she.

If she had learned one thing form the many reports she received from this village, it was that the Genomes didn't make any decisions for themselves, Mikoto did.

A sudden air turbulence yanked the dark haired Queen out of her memories and onto the floor. For a moment she thought about just laying on the thick carpet because getting up and pretending to be unaffected by everything life liked to throw at her didn't seem to be worth the effort.

Then again, she would give Steiner a heart attack if he found her like this. Reluctantly she composed herself and straitened the wrinkles in her light blue dress and busied herself with the familiar interior of the airship. "The Grace" had been presented to her by her uncle Cid for her coronation and had to be one of the most ostentatious airships in existence. But she knew it wasn't only to show of Lindblum's renewed union with Alexandria. This ship was a sign of how much he and his family cared for her, being born a commoner or not.

The thickly woven carpets showed a more accurate picture of Gaia than most maps and illustrated many views she and her companions had seen on their journey. The most meaningful gesture that had been made in the ship's design were the awe inspiring paintings of her beloved Eidolons that towered on the dark wood paneling. They looked just like the ones she had seen in her birthplace, Madain Sari. Her uncle also showed a great understanding for her heart's restlessness by passing a secret note to her, stating The Grace's hidden ability to be maneuvered by no more than two hands.

"Your Majesty, I apologize for the disruption," the pilot's voice said through the speaker.

"Please speak." Garnet urged him to continue. She had insisted to be notified over the intercom, much to the man's discomfort who didn't see this form fitting for communicating with his Queen. But a royal order – no matter its content – was still a royal order and therefore he obeyed without questioning it further.

"We will reach the Western Continent in a few minutes. Where does Your Majesty wish the ship to be landed?"

"Outside the canyon's northern entrance."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."

She left the crew and guards at the landing site and walked south. As she and Beatrix turned the second corner they stopped. Garnet removed her crinoline to reveal a pair of pants that were made of the same thin, light blue fabric as the remaining top section of her dress.

This outfit was more suitable for a peregrination through the desert canyon for it provided her fair skin protection from the hot sun beams and enough agility to escape dangers such as monsters. Not that she had to worry about those with her weapon at hand and Beatrix at her side. Therefore, they arrived unharmed at Oeil Vert's unguarded entrance. Garnet reached for the gate in front of her, stopped the movement in mid air and turned to her escort.

"I would like to do this on my own..." she confessed without looking at the warrior, feeling extremely ungrateful and selfish for dragging her general all the way out here without intending to let her stay at her side.

"Of course, my Queen. I shall wait here for your return." Beatrix answered without missing a beat. She had expected this request on their arrival at the Terran heritage even before they entered The Grace some five days ago.

The doors closed behind her and Garnet enjoyed the refreshing coolness of the familiar building on her skin. At the same time she felt some kind of veil cover the connection she shared with her Eidolons. This was the most interesting feature of this place: an unbreakable, ancient barrier that prohibited any use of magic within its halls. Last time she had been too caught up in herself and protected by her friends that she had welcomed this manipulation, but now, as she had nothing to hold closer to her heart than her summons, she felt the loss tenfold.

The edifice itself was as beautiful and ageless as she remembered. There was a huge yellow, snail shell shaped window that covered the whole back wall, which was as high as three or four floors. On the left side was a staircase leading to a small stage about one third of the rooms height and Garnet knew it lead to a tiny room that contained some sort of control panel. The entire structure looked more like it had sprouted out of the desert canyon than an architect's mind.

However, there were some differences like the now clean back window which immersed the room in a rich, almost otherworldly light. It set the surrounding building materials off, in a way that one could easily mistake them for being illuminated from within. She was so fascinated by this little facts that she was all but oblivious to the nearing footsteps until a monotonous voice approached her.

"Please follow me, Queen Garnet Till Alexandros XVII of Alexandria. It is my mission to take you to Lady Mikoto."

Garnet had to bite her lip to suppress a scream as she laid eyes on the young Genome in front of her. He seamed to be in his mid teens with boyish features and unruly, short dark blond hair. His eyes were a dull light blue without any spars of emotions and looked more through her than at her.

It took her some time to overcome the pain she felt by looking at him. This Genome didn't look so much like 'him'. This boy actually had to be one of the more individual looking Terran. But her heart still ached like the first time she had to rethink her impression of the undying hero in her life.

Her voice didn't seem trustworthy at the moment so she just nodded and without a further reaction, the Genome walked toward the back wall and opened a door she had never noticed before.

The yellow window she had expected... well, to be a window and therefore be lighted by the sun, turned out to be a light source of its own, for the room behind the other side was just as brightly lid as the one she just came from. For a short time she wondered how many of her wild assumptions had been true after all.

At the other end of the room, near another hallway entrance, stood two Genomes that seemed to have a rather one sided conversation as one of them gesticulated wildly and the other one listened intently. The speaker turned towards her, but Garnet had already quickened her pace.

'Why do they have to look the same?' she thought, biting her lips in frustration. That was the exact reason she had not come back earlier!

To her chagrin, she didn't have time to ponder much longer, because as her guide - despite his formal speech - did not have the manners to wait up for her as he walked apace through the dark corridors.

As she walked behind him she noticed that his tail was just long enough to reach the floor. But he did not seem to be bothered by it as he made no attempt to raise the tip, which had already collected some dust bunnies. Too depressed to watch the hairy appendix any longer she turned her sight to the side walls that were highly adored with soft flowing patterns which immerged the small hallway in a faint blue light. Finally, they reached the corridor's end and stopped which actually managed to confused the young royal more than any other thing she had seen today. Her attendant nodded sharply and touched one of the wall patterns she had noticed often along the way.

An oval opening appeared and granted her entrance into a spacious room. It smelled of old leather, parchment and lamp oil. The ceiling was high enough to allow stages to intersect the book shelves multiple times from top to bottom. The only light source – apart from the wall patterns - was a vast window that showed a garden of the most beautiful kind, with strange, brightly colored flowers, white stones and calm, sparkling waterways all blessed by the sun's kiss. She spotted a delicate figure at the garden's entrance and stepped closer.

Garnet expected to meet the twelve year old girl she had met on Terra to be the same, since nothing Terran ever seemed to age. Thus was her surprise as she was faced with a slightly older version of the third so called 'Angel of death' for her purpose had once been to be the last measure to free Gaia of its inhabitants to bring new life to her planet.

The changes were subtle – yet noticeable. Her once sandy hair had gained a golden tint and she had grown a few inches, as had her tail which was evident by the way she curved up the tip to prevent it from dragging on the floor.

At this moment Garnet understood the full potential of her own selfishness. She had constantly thought of her own pain and the heavy burden she carried by ruling her kingdom at a young age. But now - seeing the girl before her that barely passed to be called a teen, ruling her people without any help at all, on an unfamiliar planet – made herself feel like a spoiled little madam, for she had people who comforted and guided her at a time of loss, while the strength of the girl in front of her lay solely within herself.

"My greetings to you, Queen Garnet." the blond said and dipped her head in a polite bow.

"I thank you for this meeting, Lady Mikoto. I apologize for not sending a note prior to my arrival." Garnet stated and bowed as well. Since this was the younger girl's realm she had waited to be addressed first.

"But," she added as an afterthought,"'Garnet' will do just fine." she smiled.

The Genome nodded in agreement. "As will 'Mikoto'. Please, follow me" she said as she lead the older leader into the splendid flora.

They talked about many things that concerned legal affairs and the future of the Terran territories which remained on Gaia.

"No," Mikoto answered Garnets unspoken question after they had the official part of their meeting, "we found nothing at the Iifa Tree's remains and I dare say so, there will be nothing left to be found."

The brunette woman nodded sadly as she looked down at the warm, white pebbles beneath her feet. "I thought as much." she admitted glumly.

Mikoto offered to escorted her back personally, but since the way out was fairly easy to remember - once you figured out that the only visible doors were open for your benefit alone - Garnet declined the girl's strangely kind offer and left on her own.

As she could see the yellow, snail shell like wall from the hall, she felt an undeniable urge to leave this place behind her as fast as her legs carried her. She went so fast that she didn't notice the wall open next to her and a figure emerging out of it in as much a hurry as she was.

How could things be any different, the two collided and before Garnet could think of anything else she found herself wrapped securely by strong arms and lost herself in a pair of astonished turquoise eyes.

Yvi-sama proudly presents: The "how-to" guide!

#1: The "how to defeat the 'Review this Story/Chapter'-monster" guide!

Its easy, just use the following strategy.

1) target the rectangular bottom at the end of the page (the one with the green inscription)

2)attack it by using the left mouse key

3)that's when the battle gets though: you have to use your imagination to solve an unmentioned riddle (there are stashed hints within the chapter, so read it carefully before challenging this monster)

4)After you finished your answer, select the skill 'Submit Feedback/Review' (you might or might not want to attack one of the monster's minors for future EXP gain)

5)Congratulation! You beat 'The Review' a very challenging boss monster.


	3. A life forgotten

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 2

"How-to" guide #2

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**Author's note**

Hi there!

So, after we now know a lot of what's going on in Garnet's head, it's time for some action (well at least a teensy tiny bit ^.^")

Dear rain (who this chapter is dedicated to): Don't worry, I wont abandon this story – as long as my readers don't abandon me (via not-reviewing)

"Passive Sorrow" (FFIX OST) was a great inspiration for this chapter.

PS: I think this site hates me T.T Every time I try to insert a single line break this is what happens: Shift+Enter = single line break, saveing = single break line present, (not doing anything else) saving again = single line break gone O.o

I tried Enter, Shift+Enter, HTML, begging, shouting, crying... nothing worked *sniff* The only thing I came up with are those horazontal lines ff_net offers (I dont really like those because they tend to seperate the story's content to harshly :(

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**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company Mikoto would have been a playable character!)

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"The existence of forgetting has never been proved: We only know that some things don't come to mind when we want them." Friedrich Nietzsche

* * *

Beatrix staggered to her feet as the gate's valves opened with an unexpected force and her Queen stormed past her without an upwards glance.

Before she could follow her, the General found herself next to two Genomes. The she recognized the smaller one as the one who had followed her on the Red Rose some months ago.

Next to the girl stood a young man who had a remarkable resemblance to a certain thief – at first glance at least. But there were a number of dissimilarities with the biggest being his eyes which were about as alive and responding as pebbles. She was just about to ask what happened as Mikoto shook her head and guided her companion back inside. Before the doors closed, Beatrix heard a sadly muttered "She didn't handle it well."

* * *

Mikoto sighed as she stepped away from the grand door.

"You may go and continue your task." she told the Genome next to her in a neutral tone. Her opponent nodded obediently and left.

"Djidane?" she called gently as she made her way up the stairs to find him curled up into a ball on the entrance hall's platform.

It almost broke her heart to see her brother of sorts in such a state. It was a much overlooked fact that she was indeed able to feel and comprehend emotions. She knew the only solace she could offer him in such moments was to be silently at his side. As she sat there on the stony surface, her thoughts drifted to the day she had found him.

* * *

Mikoto had been up long before dawn and therefore met none of the Mages on her way out of the village, which she was quite grateful for because it would have caused annoying questions later on.

As she walked through the hot desert sand which followed the murky forest that surrounded the settlement she kept looking for the dune she had seen in her dream the night before.

"There it was, this was the right place!" she thought. After all, she knew better than to disregard the mental pictures as a mere production of her mind. She knew he would be here, soon.

As the sundown dipped the clear desert sky into the most amazing arrangements of reds, oranges and purples, she noticed an indistinct movement near the rocky outlines of a cave which was half way hidden under the masses of millenia old sand. Before she even thought about moving she felt her legs leading her to the entrance. This response was as natural as a flower's to the sun.

The closer she got to the cave, the stronger the draw got. Once Mikoto crossed the cave's threshold she laid eyes on the reason for her search.

„Here you are." she told the person who kneed with his back to her in the sand.

The man turned his head slowly to face her, came to an abrupt hold and confused eyes bore into her own.

„I looked for you and now I have found you." she told him calmly and managed a little smile.

„Who are you?" the man whispered in a husky voice, that obviously hadn't been put to use in a long time.

„My name is Mikoto and you are Djidane of Terra." she said truthfully and extended her hand to him.

For a long moment he did nothing but stared at her pale outstretched hand as if unsure what to do with it.

"Djidane...?" he tried the word and frowned dissatisfied.

"'Zidane Tribal' might be more familiar." Mikoto added, sounding mildly bothered by the alias.

"Tribal... Zidane?" he mouthed and his expression changed into a smile. This name 'felt' right.

The blond before him nodded.

His smile widened as he jumped to his feet eagerly, ignored the offered hand completely and hugged the girl who would be able to answer the questions that plagued him for a long time.

Mikoto on the other hand was taken by surprise by his action and stiffened what she had expected to be an attack.

* * *

He chuckled as he followed the event taking place in her mind.

After he followed her, he found out about the very powerful mental connection they shared - and he learned to enjoy this extremely close bond immensely. Sure, it had taken some time before he grew used to this new form of communication but it had proven to be very comforting for they could feel the other's mood and emotions like their own. The best about this connection was the purely voluntary foundation as it solely served as a controlled exchange of information - without violating the other's private thoughts.

"I thought I had totally lost it when I saw you standing there, flawless like a living shadow against the red sky." he admitted jokingly and rose to his feet.

"Feeling better?" Mikoto asked as he offered her a helping hand which she took immediately.

He nodded and she followed his eyes as they stopped at the huge double doors Garnet had left through.

He still felt the visitor's eyes on him and the comfortable weight she presented in his arms. Her eyes where the most beautiful tone of melted chocolate and full of surprise, hope and... something... he couldn't quite put his thumb on what it could've been. Never the less, they were mesmerizing in their depths - he was sure he would never want to look at anything else again. This fixation seemed to be mutual for the perfect stranger hadn't shown the slightest inclination to escape his hold. Then, all of a sudden the brunette's eyes closed shut and her body went completely limp.

Zidane still didn't remember much of his life he lead before, but he was pretty sure he had never been more terrified in his entire existence. Panicky he called out to Mikoto in his mind.

As soon as she arrived – which had been remarkably soon – she told him to hand the girl over to her and hide from view. He couldn't understand her reaction but decided to comply none the less as he noticed an anxiousness in her glance that wasn't as much directed towards the unconscious woman as it was to him. He yelped audibly as he noticed the aggressive growl that had escaped his throat. Utterly horrified he sprinted to the nearest hiding place that still provide a stealthy view: the tiny control room that possessed an exit at both sides of the illuminated yellow wall.

Without further delay Mikoto ordered for a 'replacement', an other Genome who shared more similarities to the siblings than most of the others and was supposed to hold the Queen whensoever she opened her eyes again. The young girl's plan succeeded as Garnet regained consciousness and fled the Terran property as soon as she realized she had only dreamed of being in her hero's embrace. The blond felt sympathy for the slightly older girl but knew that the decision she had just made was the best for everyone, at least for the time being.

Even after he had calmed down, Zidane was still able to feel the tingle on his skin where had touched and longed for her body's warmth on his chest. These things made him feel some strange kind of longing and a strong feeling of being... 'at home'.

"I knew her... at least I used to..." he mumbled lost in his foggy thoughts.

"Yes." Mikoto admitted and watched as his eyes regained focus and met hers.

"It was her I promised to come back to, wasn't it?" he prompted further, his eyes bagging for information.

"I suppose so."

She had waited for him to start questioning her about his former life for weeks, but now - as she witnessed his desperate longing for answers – she doubted she would be of much help to him after all.

* * *

For Zidane, sleep didn't come easy that night. He tossed and turned but couldn't evade the nightmarish dreams that haunted him mercilessly night after night.

They weren't all about monsters, but about people. People who were angry and sad, but couldn't be consulted. People he felt drawn to without knowing them. None of them had a face or solid form, he just knew they had to be people. But the dreams changed that night.

Tonight, the first shapeless figure turned into a young woman who's beauty was only rivaled by the moon she looked upon. He saw her beneath a tree accompanied by two smaller shadows as she hummed a tune he actually recognized. It was sad but hopeful and belonged in the company of an angel's voice.

"My angel." his dream self thought longingly as he stepped closer to the little group. As he came closer to them the other two figures vanished into thin air and she looked directly at him.

He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw her face for she didn't look the way she was supposed to! Her once fair skin had turned red under the sun's angry rays and dirt covered her delicately features. The tears she shed had been plenty enough to cleared two small lines on her cheeks. But the most disturbing things was the way her eyes had dulled from their former doe brown to an unreadable muddy color.

The woman rose and closed the distance between them, her eyes begging for something... but her words felt deaf on his ears. He panicked and reached for her face, trying to comfort her in some way, but his hands went straight through her...

He woke with a scream and sat upright on his bed. For a moment he wished to do nothing more than reach for Mikoto's smoothing mind but refrained from doing so because she would feel his distress and loose another good night's sleep.

"No,"he held his head in his hands,"this is your own fault!" he whispered as he thought about the conversation he has with his sister shortly after he had realized the situation he was in.

* * *

It had been a peaceful morning and Mikoto had come to spend another day with him, teaching him things he felt familiar with such as the location of cities and continents. He often remembered some strange yet comfortable facts like which inn served the best meals and where you shouldn't go to without a weapon.

She also told him of some people who came looking for him but stopped as she saw his frustrated face and changed the topic.

He hated this feeling of vulnerability, of now remembering things he just had knew! He didn't remember his childhood – or at least the part after he had been kidnapped from Terra by that 'Kuja' person. He groaned. At least the the later part of his upbringing had to have been brighter for sure. What wasn't compared to that none-life he had lead under the supervision of 'Garland'? Mikoto had spoken neither good nor bad of both of this men but he somehow just couldn't bring himself to be as neutral toward them as she was.

They made their way back to the outskirts of the small village, where he had to act 'normal' since the Blackmages, who had grown quite fond of chit-chatting, were not supposed to know of his return.

„We should probably tell th..." she disrupted the silence that befell them as the night approached after yet another long summer's day.

„No!" Zidane interrupted her harshly, his tail slashing through the air like a whip.

Unconsciously, Mikoto took a few steps back. His aggressive outburst startled her greatly, especially since he had never used such a tone on her before.

Zidane paled visibly as he noticed the apprehension in her eyes and raised his hands in an apologetic gesture that showed he meant no harm.

„Please," he pleaded softly, „don't tell them I´m alive. It will only hurt them to know." he took a step closer to her and relief washed through him when she didn't flinch away.

He took a deep breath before he continued. „I don't remember who it was... but someone once told me 'To _be forgotten_ is worse than death'. Besides," he tried to mask the somberness with a false cheerfulness „It has been what? Almost two years since I was last seen? They've probably all moved on by now and I don't want to burden them." He wasn't quite sure who he wanted to convince more, her or himself.

She mustered him with a sad expression, but nodded eventually.

„I disagree, but I can see your point. After all, this is your decision to make, not mine."

"Thank you." he said before they continued on their way.

* * *

Several hours later Mikoto woke with an almost cheerful feeling.

"Where did that come from?" she muttered sleepily and automatically walked to the room obliquely opposite from her own where she found a curled up Zidane, sleeping soundlessly in a chaotic batch of blankets wrapped around him. She felt glad as she sensed an open channel to his mind and watched as his dream self talked and laughed wholeheartedly with the young Alexandrian Queen.

"I want to know you again..." he breathed and for a moment Mikoto feared he had awoken but a loud snoring dispel all her worries and she decided to leave him inside his dreamworld for a few more hours.

"Don't you worry," she whispered,"I will make sure you will." she promised before she left to return to her studies.

* * *

**The "How-to-motivate-an-author" guide.**

Its very simple to motivate an author (You should note that authors are (usually) very appreciative and easily pleased beings).

Why should **YOU** review?

1) It takes only a few moments of your time (a tiny fraction of what it took me to write the chapter!)

2)more/faster updates

3)longer/better chapters

4)less chance of "writer's block"

**And** because every review makes my day!

Just drop a little note by using the cute little "Review" button down there ^_^


	4. Present

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 3

* * *

**Author's note**

Hey, you're back to read a new chapter of "As an Ending", great!

Today's song is "You are not alone" by katethegreat19

This chapter is dedicated to... myself - for lack of reviewers.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company we would have seen a lot more of Tantalus)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"The past is strapped to our backs. We do not have to see it; we can always feel it."M. McLaughlin

* * *

Garnet groaned. Frustrated she wiped yet another calculation from her slant. She rose from her chair and went to the window to let some of the crisp autumn air inside the stuffy room.

She wanted to help her people more than anything else, especially those who had lost so much during the Invincible's attack. A soup kitchen - a place where the poor and indigent can go and get at leased one proper meal each day – it was be the least she could do.

She sighed sadly as she had done much to often since she had ascended the throne. This project was but one of many she wanted to introduce to her people. But they had to wait, because her mother's conquest plans had left the treasure chamber in a more than disillusioning condition.

Absentmindedly, the young Queen watched the caramel colored leaves swirl through the air, catching the sun's last rays and joining the endless flood of its kind covering the royal grounds. Her predecessors had never allowed the castle garden to look so unkempt, for the unnecessary of a perfectly groomed garden filled them with pride and was a formidable sign of Alexandria's wealth.

Her decision to sent her army of gardeners into the city to help the people establish new crop fields outside the city to avoid a famine had caused quite a fuss under the nobles.

How dared they to care more about some scrubs than those who suffered most!

"Beside," she thought longingly,"it looks kind of nice this way." She had missed the freedom she had enjoyed during her travels a lot lately.

A loud knock on the wooden door gave her a major start but she recovered quickly and invited her visitor inside.

"My Queen." the tall man greeted her with a loyal bow and saluted. His silver amour clattered loudly by every moved he made. The familiar sound managed to bring a small, nostalgic smile to her lips. She nodded for her Captain to continue.

"Sir Lairen has accepted your Majestie's invitation for tonight's dinner and will be attending with his wife and oldest son." he said while he regretted to see her rare smile turn into a thin lipped line. Beatrix and he had tried to keep the many power hungry noblemen and their sons away from the secretly mourning Queen as long as possibly. But - in the end – they had known their inability to protect their beloved ruler from the sheer quantity of suitors.

"Thank you, Steiner." she replied stiffly and dismissed him from her presence.

* * *

"Right, let us continue." the blond girl said indifferently. "Who is the ruler of Lindblum?"

"Ehm... the king is an oglop... not, wait! Wait, he's a frog!" corrected the very similar looking man himself hastily. But it didn't earn him any more than another raised eyebrow from his sister, who laid the thick, leather bound book back on the dusty table.

"First of all Lindblum doesn't have a 'king'. The land has been ruled by a 'regent' for many decades because the last king - Shinra IV - died without providing an heir." she said matter of factly. "The current ruler is "Regent Cid Fabool IX'."

"How did you bethink him being an 'oglop'?" she asked as an afterthought, obviously unsure of the last word.

"Well, because he was! Or at least he had been. Look, he had something with this chick - at a bar - and Hilda - his wife - got really mad at him and..." he broke off as he realized something.

"You never told me any of this, did you?" Zidane asked with a big smile, that grew wide enough to meet both his ears as he watched her shake her head, somewhat taken aback.

The expression left his face as soon as Mikoto's body suddenly became rigid and her eyes lost their focus.

"What is it?" he asked urgently as she refocused on his face a few seconds later.

"There is trouble in the Grand Hall." Mikoto answered in an emotionless whisper.

"Want me to go?"

"No." she said as she rose from her seat. "I will handle it."

He watched her warily. He knew she had some kind of uncanny sixth sense that told her whenever one of her 'charges' was in trouble – after all, this is how she found him – but he still didn't like her trying to handle everything by herself, especially when it came to the remaining monsters inside their new residence. She had a lot of qualities but she really wasn't much of a fighter.

"Study!" she urged him on before she reached the door and left to the "Grand Hall of Terran History".

* * *

The book was 'educational' - at least that was the nicest description Zidane could come up with. He imagined this "Doctor Tot" - as the author introduced himself in the preamble – to be some old man who buried his big, long nose inside his books from dawn 'till dusk, forgetting almost every other aspect of life, including to shave. The young blond snickered, knowing little of how close he came to the truth.

"'Additionally'," he thought half aggrieved, half mockingly as he noticed yet another word he had never seen before, much less knew how pronounce it,"this guy uses seemingly normal words to make up his own language!" Peevishly he threw the book against the wall.

For a while he looked at it as though it had personally done him wrong. But in the end he decided to pick it up before Mikoto's return. She was very picky whenever it came to books – and she didn't need to be a good fighter to make you not want to get on her bad side!

* * *

Yep, this chapter ends right here.

I had planed it to be much longer and way more exiting, but I simply lack the motivation to spend another couple of hours writing without knowing if people actually like what I'm doing or not.

I asked fellow authors for advice, since I started to feel demotivated whenever I thought about writing another chapter because I had no reviews to tell me whether the last chapter had been ok, too slow, too confusing, good, funny or whatever. I got a very good answer:

"It's the worst feeling when something you like or put a lot of effort into doesn't get feedback. Just don't let it [the writing] become a struggle because that's not what writing fanfiction is about! "

* * *

**Why do I tell you guys all of this?**

First of all because I want to tell you exactly what's going on. Because I can see in the story statistics that there are a whole lot of you reading "As an Ending" and because I love this story and all it's coming twists and turns. But there won't be anymore updates unless I get some feedback!

* * *

Therefore: Please comment!

-

It doesn't have to be much. A "That was an ok chapter" or "You need to work on you're grammar but the idea isn't half bad", that's all I'm asking for.

-

You don't even need to be registered to review, the button will work either way.

Thank you ^.^


	5. Right to Exist

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 4

* * *

**Author's note**

Hi there!

Yes, this is an update ^__^ Its quite late, sorry about that *drop*

I'm still very glad you came back to read more and review a lot (-- you totally know you want to *.*)

This chapter's dedication goes to Kyubi-Emz-Chan and FaithStarLight for their wonderful and helpful reviews!

Thank you guys :-)

Oh, there isn't really a song to this chapter. I listened mostly to 'Don't pay the fairy man' by Chris de Burgh, but since that's one of my all time favorites, I doubt it affected the chapter a lot (tell me if you think it did ^.^)

PS: The chapter is a little short, blame jurisprudence and educational-science exams T_T

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company the German version would have included the fact that Kuja has a tail)

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can." G. Shaw

* * *

Peevishly he threw the book against the wall.

For a while he looked at it as though it had personally done him wrong. But in the end he decided to pick it up before Mikoto's return. She was very picky whenever it came to books - and she didn't need to be a good fighter to make you not want to get on her bad side!

As his fingertips touched the dark leather cover, he recoiled instantly and took a big step back. His heart hammered so hard against his ribcage it hurt and each beat brought a new wave of blood rushing loudly through his eardrums. His hands were sweaty and his muscles coiled in an instinctive response to the looming danger.

"Danger?" he thought and looked around hastily. The room was small. A table, two chairs, an unlit fireplace and a few bookshelves.

"There is nothing here..." he muttered bewildered.

Before his conscious thoughts came to any conclusion, his feet already lead him towards the corridors, straight to the 'Grand Hall of Terran History' - or 'Face Hall' - as he called it, whenever his sister wasn't close enough to give him a disapproving look.

The scene that unfolded itself in front of him as soon as Zidane opened the big wooden doors that lead into the big hall - which wasn't much more than a footbridge over an endless, black abyss - made his blood ran cold. A couple of feet away stood the biggest Epitaph he had ever encountered.

The dark jade monster was nearly as tall as three grown men and had an equal width. It looked like an enormous humanoid beast with long, razor sharp talons, crouching behind a shield like, runes engraved flagstone. A pair of dull eyes peeked over the monster's defense.

The giant had nestled itself in the middle of the room, at the very point were the five feet wide walkway merge into a semicircle on one side - gaining some four feet in with - and narrowing down to a short two feet wide bridge on the other. Connected to this bridge was a small, circular platform.

In front of the creature - and therefore directly in the line of fire – were two motionless genomes. One of them stood frozen in a retreating position without any chance of escape for the Epitaph had petrified him into a gray stone stature. The other one lay on the floor, huddle up into a fetal position - and also going straight past the monstrosity of a stone towards the drop down - at the same time!

"By thunder!" Zidane bellowed as soon as he traced the single-minded route of the unconscious genome's doppelganger. A single white hand gripped the ground's raised edge, holding on for dear life itself.

"Mikoto." he thought as his mind worked at top speed to find a solution for the situation. His first instinct was to simply rush into the fight and be done with it. But no, this was much more complicated. He couldn't do this on his own, he needed help; a team. And he found one.

On the circular platform hid several genomes behind a couple of big wooden boxes which probably contained all kind of tools and materials to restore the ruined faces on the wall.

He focused hard on the first blond heads he saw. "One, get to Mikoto and pull her up before she falls!" Zidane ordered mentally as he dodged behind his petrified kinsman to avoid the Epitaph's mirror that would not only add another clone to be dealt with but would most likely knock him out as well, which really wasn't such a good plan right now.

"You," he continued hastily,"Stop that clone from attacking!". Grinding his teeth he added reluctantly "By all available means." He hated giving orders - especially of this nature - but this was hardly the time for a moral dilemma, as he already did one neck breaking stunt after another to avoid the monster's numerous petrifying attacks.

"The others will get two soft potions each and take aim at the Epitaph's middle." Zidane clarified his command with a mental image of an Epitaph opening its flagstone dead centered to reveal the golden framed mirror.

"On my mark, you throw them right into the opening." With that he sprinted straight towards the monster, feinting to the sides several times along the way. He didn't need to wait for any confirmations, he knew they would obey his every wish without as much as a single spark of self preservation or thoughts in general. Besides he had enough trouble concentrating on his weapon. It was a beautifully - yet simple - dagger with ivy twines adoring the silver, double edged blade. It really was a fine piece of craftsmanship but he felt unbalanced none the less.

He reached the massive green boulder and ran his blade forcefully along the runes of the stone shield. This did little to harm his opponent but it aggravated the colossus enough to entirely focus on him with the sole desire to eliminate the one who had dared to desecrated its ancient secrets.

As soon as the mirror made its way toward him, Zidane yelled "Now!" and threw a little flask of golden liquid at the beast. He knew there would be several other thin walled soft-potions shattering against the monster's skin, but he didn't notice any of this for his attention was captured by his image inside the 'Mirror of Contingency'.

With an almost painful abruptness that left him stupefied, the image shattered into a million tiny crystals and resolved into nothingness, the way all mist creatures left Gaia's surface without leaving any more evidence of their existence behind than the brutal damage they had caused.

Zidane snapped out of his daze as he noticed Mikoto sitting on the ground, holding a seemingly injured arm close to her chest and trying - in vain - to hide the obvious fact that it actually _did_ caused her a lot of pain.

He went to her side and shook his head over her stubbornness. He knew better than to confront her about her rather reckless behavior in general and simply reached for her arm.

"Hey, I'm just finahh!" she protested - as he had predicted - but bit her tongue before another pain stricken shriek could passed her lips. "'Just fine', I know." he commented dryly. She glared at him crossly.

Before he continued to evaluate the extent of the wound he glared at the closed genome, the one he had ordered to pull his sister up and who hadn't raised an other single finger to help her beyond said assignment. "Back to work, all of you." he barked uncharacteristically harshly. Still incensed, he picked Mikoto up with the most care he could muster, careful not to joggle her right arm more than necessary.

* * *

Once he had settled her into an empty, close-by bedchamber he cleaned the gash which straddled from the base of her right thumb all the way to her elbow, bathing the whole dorsal part of her lower arm in a now faint red. The wound wasn't too deep, which he was more than grateful for, since his newly found - 'newly' as in 'at that moment' - medical skills were certainly not suitable for much else. Despite that he could feel out a small, pinky-wide bumpiness about halfway up her forearm.

"Did you fall on this part?" he asked in a soothingly voice. "On the edge." he heard her answer him mentally, while her upper front teeth were busy biting her lower lip. He instantly tried to readjust his hold on her arm to minimize the pain he unwillingly caused.

"Don't," she said, verbally this time, turning a little paler than normal,"just get it over already." Zidane nodded while uncorking a portion bottle with his teethes and began to trickle the forest green liquid into the flesh wound, which started to close up instantly, eventually leaving nothing behind but a pinkish line where the Epitaph's talon had penetrated the skin. The fracture however would need same time to heal for every kind of instantaneous cure had its limits.

"Just lay down a bit and do no-" he started after he had applied the last cotton stripe around the makeshift splint to insure a proper coalesce of the bones. But before he even had a chance to finish, Mikoto had pulled the tattered remains of her long black sleeve over the bandage, leaped off the bed and made her way towards the door - that was until a certain someone planted himself in front of her.

"What - exactly - do you think you are doing?" he asked sceptically, raising an eye brow at her haggard appearance, dirt and superficial scrapes adoring her peaky face.

"Caring for the wounded." she stated, holding a golden flask in her left hand.

"Why do you always do that?" he asked, suddenly sounding bitter.

"Do what?"

"All the time putting 'them' in front of your own needs?"

Mikoto looked up and he could see in her eyes - so much like his own, yet nothing alike - the answer would be strengthen by her whole conviction.

"Because this is the reason for my creation. 'Mi-ko-to', 'Guardian', 'Caregiver'. I exist to aid the vessels in every way necessary. Without this task, my life is meaningless; forfeit."

After she left the room, Zidane heard her mental voice whispering inside his head.

"Which purpose is left to justify your existence, Djidane?"

* * *

Uhi, Mikoto sounds a little cruel at the end, doesn't she? What do you think? OOC or IC?

This was also my very first battle scene ever and I _guess_ I did ok. Too long, too confusing, too... whatever? Please tell me!

Last note: I guess a change in rating became necessary after this chapter? I don't really know a lot about this stuff and I would really appreciate your rating suggestions (really don't want to get in trouble with the site administration *drop*)

I would love to hear as many opinions as possible^__^

So, have fun pressing that little "Review"-button down below!

Thank you


	6. Arrival

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 5

* * *

**Authors Note**

Hi there!

Wow, the last chapter received better feedback than I had thought ^.^ thanks to Clement Rage and Kyubi-Emz-Chan for being awesome!!

This chapter is a little calmer than the last one (blame musculoskeletal-system(anatomy) and **physiology** exams next week T.T )

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company I would have made sure that the strategy-guide contained all the information and not linking to a website that - nine years later - doesn't exist anymore.)

----

Chapter 5

"_I am one of those who never knows the direction of my journey until I have almost _arrived" A. Strong

'Nature at war with itself' that was the term people would use to describe this particular storm later.

The sky's color had changed from a calming blue to an angry gray that would soon be blacker than death itself. Thunder roared, bellowing with rage as if Gaia herself felt the need to protect her people from the alien force that had just invaded her territory.

In the center of the storm - out of anyone's sight – raged another fight. The ocean fought with a small body, dragging him into its icy depths, tossing him closer to the lightning's reach or using its humongous waves like hands in an attempt to rip him apart.

The body's soul however, was more persistent than even nature could have thought and kept the little child alive and fighting with every thing he had left. Finally, after an endless struggle to get just one more gasp of salty air, the child's eyes - burning from the salt - caught sight of something other than the white rabid-like sea foam, the dark blues, grays and blacks of the sea.

"Land" he realized breathlessly and began his escape, eager to leave the wet prison, fueled by a desperate need to reach the shore. The closer he got to his destination, the more forcefully he was choked back by the waves – until he finally reached the end of the water. Only then did the child realize the ten feet wall in front of him. His eyes searched frantically for a way up. He found none.

Everything looked frighteningly strange. Nothing acted the way it was supposed to. Water wasn't supposed to move, the sky wasn't supposed to be heard and he certainly wasn't supposed to be here, especially not alone - not yet.

Being exhausted, lost and frightened, the little child did the only thing that came natural to him in this situation, he called out for help. As he did, the rational thinking part of his brain already shouted at him to drop the effort and to give up.

The chance to hear a faint, croaky voice in the middle of a midnight storm was closer to zero than anything else.

But sometimes - at very exceptional occasions - 'close to zero' still isn't zero.

As his consciousness left him and he sank deeper into the icy fangs of the sea, the boy imagined himself being encircled by a pair of warm arms. He imagined his head breaking through the water's surface and hearing a grumpy voice. Even in his imagination the words were to strange to decipher their meaning.

* * *

Zidane woke with a start, bumped his head on something and felt the sickening coldness of water running down the front side of his sark. For a moment he felt disoriented. Panic widened eyes searched for the source of the cowardly assault. He found a pair of tranquil turquoise blue eyes as his sister stood next to the hammock.

"You dreamt." she stated plainly, reaching for a wooden cup that lay in his lap.

"ehm... I noticed."

Silence surrounded them.

Mikoto was about to excused herself to get a new cup of water for him, but changed her mind for his hands were still shaking slightly. He probably hadn't even noticed. This state of confusion usually occur after he regained another memory. She was used to it by now and knew he would feel better after he talked about it.

"An unsettling dream?"

"No, it wasn't dream. It felt too real." Zidane fumbled thoughtfully - nervously? - with the laces on the neck of his white linen shirt. "I think it was the night I first arrived on Gaia."

"A stormy night," she nodded in remembrance,"Kuja took his chance to take you down here while Garland's attention was absorbed by his task. Strong storms are always the reaction of a healthy planet whenever its exposed to the Invincible's power."

He nodded thoughtfully then stopped abruptly. "How...?" he shook his head,"You couldn't remember, at that time you were like... two, can you?"

The blond didn't answer. Instead she turned her back to him and he didn't press the issue further, for his mind was already sorting through images of another, more urgent topic.

The Invincible. In his mind, he saw glimpses of a spacious conning bridge, a lidless eye gleaming in a murderous light. Stone formations that looked like little houses crumbled in the eye's red light. The ground shook and trembled. Out of this chaotic flood of images he caught one picture that struck a painful cord in his heart. A little, nutshell-like fishing boat set sail and vanished in the roaring storm. He tried to follow the tiny vessel with his eyes, desperate to protect the hooded figures. But it was gone. Lost at sea. Zidane swallowed hard.

Meanwhile, Mikoto had reached the ladder which lead to the deck. "You better get dressed. We will arrive shortly."

He looked up in bewilderment, before he made the connection. Right, they were on a ship. On board of 'The Ship' as a matter of fact. It served the most relevant task for its creation: it floated on the water. There really wasn't that much left to say about the old hooker.

One large storage room with a couple of old, reeking hammocks, and a little prehistoric caboose and a small cabin. He had assigned the later to Mikoto for she was the only female passenger. By now, he was an expert whenever it came to skillfully ignore her eye-rolling and protesting muttering about the needlessness of such a special treatment.

Eagerly Zidane jumped out of the hammock to examine the pile of clothes his sister had left for him. Another white linen sark, dark pants, a pair of black leather boots, an old gentleman's hat and a thin, dark brown wool cloak with a hood. The cloak reached down to his ankles and would help to hide his tail, which was far too uncommon to show in public.

Fresh air filled his lungs as he joined Mikoto on deck. She too had changed into less noticeable attire than her usual black and pink Terran clothes. She was dressed in a beige, sleeveless cotton dress over a white blouse. Even his trained eyes weren't able to make out the tail he knew was hidden somewhere under the many layers that gave the skirt a very puffy look.

"Looking good,sis. But I don't think brown is your kind of color." He pointed at a light brown piece of cloth in her hand. It would later cover her shoulders and short hair, along with a good part of her facial features.

She ignored his teasing and mentioned him to sit on a barrel next to her. He groaned. He knew what would happen next and didn't like it one bit. As he sat he could have sworn he saw her suppress a smile.

Mikoto reached inside the big wicker basket at her side and unfolded a handkerchief to reveal a dark, hairy bundle.

"Uf, not that tight, Mikoto. I got hair in my nose!" Zidane grizzle as Mikoto tied the threads behind his head to prevent the fake beard to slip out of place. She turned, griped his right hand with her left before it could do any damage to the hairpiece and adjusted it to look like it belonged into the young man's face.

"Better?" she asked. He grunted sulking-ly. He had been one of those boys who had always longed for a beard to look more like a man, but didn't get one. Right now, he wished men didn't have beards at all.

"Now, the eyes brows." Mikoto said exorbitantly good natured, after she tucked her brother's ponytail under his hat.

She glued two small stripes of medium brown hair to his eyebrows. The glue was a mixture of honey and resin and had a pleasant smell to it, matching the early spring atmosphere. While Mikoto perfected his appearance, Zidane watched her hair move with every breeze. She had cut it down to create the hair pieces but now it almost reached half way down her neck again.

"Its still a little shorter than Dagger's as she decided to change in order to become a better leader for her people." he thought wistfully.

Soon, he promised himself, soon he would have enough knowledge of himself again to go back to her. He closed his eyes and could almost smell her rose-scented hair, just the way it had been when she collapsed in Oeil Vert a couple of moons ago.

"All done." Mikoto said and handed him a mirror to see for himself.

"Wow." he grasped as he watched the man inside the mirror rise a dark brown eyebrow. He smiled and so did the man. As he looked closer, Zidane realized that each 'hair' consisted of several finer ones that had been swirled together to create an illusion of a more bristly texture.

"You are a genius!" he declared excitedly,"That theater group I was in, Daedalus - or was it Icarus? - aaanyway, they would have seriously loved your craftsmanship."

She smiled, obviously unused to such high praising.

They left the ship and the accompanying Genomes in a small lagoon. Their destined city provided a port for ships and airships alike, but they had decided to stay as anonymously as possible and to walk the last remaining miles alone.

Or as alone as you can, considering you are on your way to the kingdom's capital while it hosted the biggest market for all kinda thinks of the entire continent.

They joined a large group of travelers. There were merchants with their overloaded wagons filled with the products they would offer in the marketplace, small families with empty bags on their way to fill their pantries with fresh food after the long, hard winter. He also saw a group of Burmacians along the way. Nervous parents kept a vary eye on their little ones who played tag and hide 'n' seek, staying in and out of sight as they run through the crowd.

Before long the hills and mountain chains ended and allowed the travelers a magnificent view at Gaia's grandest city. Its walls shimmered golden in the last rays of the late afternoon sun.

"Lindblum, home of airships, chronometers and theater!" Zidane announced to Mikoto, who could feel the tingling excitement through their shared bond.

Although this particular part wasn't as accurate or reliable as an open channel, they still felt if the other experienced very strong emotions - like panic or pain. Apparently this connection also worked with positive feelings.

By the time they reached the Dragon's Gate - two gigantic steel doors decorated with the blood red head of a dragon. His eyes - two head-sized emeralds – gleamed down viciously at the people, warning them to stay on the righteous path of life while they wandered in his territory. Zidane chuckled. "What a joke," he mentally told his sister in a clearly amused voice,"The problem usually ain't the people going inside as much as the ones already lingering inside, waiting to help the guests with their way too heavy purses."

The crowd moved slowly into the city. Once Mikoto yelped painfully as a fat hippo woman pushed her way forcefully through the masses, hitting people right and left with her baskets. From then on Zidane kept her under his cloak, especially guarding his baby sister's right arm which was still healing after the Epitaph's attack.

Two hours later, they both collapsed on the Inn's squeaky double bed

"'Mr and Mrs Emoneg'," Zidane said in a surprisingly good imitation of her voice,"Ow man, Mikoto I thought you'd give that poor man a heart attack when you told him we're newly weds enjoying our honeymoon!" he managed to say between fits of laughter.

"Well," she said, sounding quite proud of herself,"it worked, did it not? A room entirely to our own usage."

"Who - in their right mind - would want to share a room with newly weds?" he muttered, but as she turned to him he said "I said: 'Remind me to get a couple of kuponuts before we leave'. I want to thank Kupoline for making our reservations, and if she is anything like her father... well that will be the best way to do it." he grinned, thinking fondly of the little overweight moogle and his family who lived inside Gizamaluke's Grotto. She nodded, and if she had heard his first statement, she didn't show it.

Before he had even realized he had fallen asleep, a loud knock-knock startled the groggy Genome awake. Lately, his naps and wanna-be 'good night sleeps' seemed to be filled with the most eventful and frightening events of his life and always ended – too soon – with something starling him. He wondered if one could get used to it over time or if he would – someday – suffer a heart attack if this new tradition didn't stop.

"Wathisit?" he mumbled semiconscious as Mikoto returned from the door with a medium sized sheet of rise paper - the cheaper version of parchment.

"An advertisement for some kind of 'a humorous and tragic love story'." she said in an uninterested voice.

"Bawhom?"

"A group called 'Tantalus'."

"'TANTALUS'?!" Zidane almost shrieked, metamorphosing from a drooling sleep-talker into a hyperactive chocobo with a sugar-rush in record time. "Lemmesee!"

Perplexed, Mikoto handed him the paper. Fascinated with worry she observed the rapid change of colors on his face. White, red, white, green, red, white, blue, blue. He had forgotten to breath.

A second later, a very heavy breathing Zidane lay sprawled on the floor, suddenly being very aware of the upper part of his back where Mikoto had placed her... hand tightly reminder that oxygen was in fact a necessity for every living being, including Angel of Deaths.

"When, is, it?" he croaked.

"Tomorrow night."

* * *

Finally, the story arrived at the point I had planned out for chapter two ^_^" *smiles*

I have to admit, I'm a persistent detail-lover, but I don't know if I - sometimes - go a little overboard at times (like the beard scene)?

Who would like to take wild guess about the "couple's" surname?

Thanks a lot for reading!

No news are bad news therefore:

Please leave me a little feedback(works without being registered)


	7. Lindblum

**Contents**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 6

* * *

**Author's Note**

All my gratitude for last chapter's reviews goes to Kyubi-Emz-Chan and Clement Rage ^_^

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company FF9 would have been for PS2)

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"_Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to"_J. Pearce

* * *

This had to be the strangest summer-day he had ever experienced in his life until than and many years to come.

Until then, it had been a typical Lindblum summer: hot temperatures combined with salty humidity, coating the town in shimmering salt-crystals.

The streets were packed with foreigners who hoped to find work at the new dockyard Regent Cid planned to constitute. The red haired boy had heard Nath talk about having seen a huge boxlike thing float a whole feet above he ground. He still wasn't sure wherever the older boy had told the truth or had just beenmaking fun of him.

The day started unusually silent for not a single bird was neither seen nor heard.

Never a good omen whenever it came to a port town.

The people however didn't seem to notice, at least the majority of them didn't. He had seen a couple of jumpy looking Burmecian families – rat-people who still had a close connection to nature – staying close together, looking nervously at the sky every now and then. Burmecians were known to be ingenious salesmen who liked to work eight days a week, if possible, which explained the confused expressions on many customer's faces whenever they were met with a 'closed for the day' sign on the door. After all, it wasn't even sundown yet.

He fastened the brown and red bandana around his head, carefully covering up his right eye, as the wind gained in strength, threatening to rip the cloth off his head. The boy decided to call it a day before that – he watched the darkening sky warily – began to pour down on him.

He had 'found' a couple of niche things by wandering through the buzzing crowds at the market square. Anyway, Boss probably wouldn't be back early enough to realize he had skipped an hour or two of 'work' and he was pretty sure Marcus wouldn't tell on him. Nath on the other hand... well, he would be dealt with when it became a necessity.

Maybe it was some kind of instinct, maybe it was just a very stupid idea, but as he thought about the fat that Robert's last visit had been last fall, he felt the urge to make a detour to the harbor. A detour that would probably get him soaked.

As he emerged from one of the underground tunnels that connected Lindblum's different districts on a much faster way than the many, always changing streets above, he realized with a sinking heart, that the storm had already hit the city.

"I'll get wet anyway, might as well enjoy it." he thought as he stepped closer to the outraged water.

For a moment he remembered stormy nights on board a big ship, the wind tearing the black and white flag into shreds. And for another moment he imagined to actually see a ship. It was gigantic. But this ship couldn't be real, for it stayed motionlessly in the sky, unaffected by the winds, lightning bolts and murderous waves. The image only lasted for the blink of an eye.

He shook his head, dazed. Just as he was about to turn his back on the raging waves, he heard something.

A high pitched, bloodcurdling scream, like two hollow metal bars being slammed together. It sounded so strange that he could hear it clearly, despite the deafening noises of the storm.

He stepped closer to the water's edge and something yellowish coughed his eyes. No, not yellow. Blond. There was a blond head in the water.

He froze. In his short live he had seen a lot of things, but a floating head wasn't one of the sights he wanted to ever see again. Within a second a tiny hand joined the head and another scream was heard. Without losing a single conscious thought about it, the red head jumped expertly into the waters, ignoring the biting cold alongside the fact that he wasn't in a much better condition to fight nature than the struggling body in front of him. A body that didn't reappear on the surface!

Hastily he dived after the small shape. As soon as he reached it, he put his left arm under the arms of what seemed to be an unconscious child. They broke through the water and took a long overdue breath. Just as he felt his strength failing him and his arms getting numb from the cold, he noticed a lone figure on the landing stage he was heading for.

A wave washed over him and as he resurfaced, the person had vanished.

At the same time, something snaked its way around his chest. He struggled vehemently as he realized he didn't want to be an easy dinner for this sea-monster – whatever it was.

"Easy kiddo, I got you." a deep voice whispered into his ear.

Instantly his body relaxed and the boy focused all of his remaining strength on holding on to the very reason he had almost drowned that night, thinking about nothing else than the realization that he would really make it out of this mess alive.

* * *

He didn't remember his eyes closing, but the next thing he knew was being shaken by the shoulder.

"- ank, wake up! Blank!"

"Hm," he groaned as he opened his eyes, already feeling the pounding headache his reckless stunt had given him. As his eye regained focus, he noticed a

worried look on the familiar face.

"Marcus... what...?" he tried to say, but was pretty sure it sounded more like 'Mcswa'.

Marcus smiled with relief, a sight that – combined with his wild appearance, the spiky ears and fang-like teeth – would have scared of the biggest monster. But Blank knew how to take it.

"We better get going, its pretty late already." Marcus muttered.

He helped the redheaded boy - who was too exhausted to even protest about being babied - onto his back and securing the body with a hand under his behind, just in case he might black out again. With his right hand he picked the remaining child up and cradled him carefully into his chest.

The thunderstorm raged behind them, but every feet they put between themselves and the floods, the water seemed to calm down a little more. But this was probably just their imagination.

While he held on to his friend's neck, Blank used his first chance to really look at his catch.

As he had asumed before, it was a little child, a boy actually. He looked to be a few years younger than he was, making him... what, five years? Maybe six. He had very pretty, clean cut features. This much was recognizable, even with the childish roundness of his pale face still in place. The boy's hair was cut quite neatly. His frame was small - almost petite – but apparently well fed, hinting at a very convenient lifestyle. Blank also noted that the younger boy's lips were a soft pink – which didn't strike him as odd at that moment, despite the fact that his own teeth were cluttering like crazy and his lips probably looked like blueberry puree.

"That was very brave." Marcus said after a while. The redhead grunted.

"You mean 'pretty stupid'."

"Well, yeah," he admitted, obviously humored by the boy,"That too." He kept walking in silence.

All too soon, they reached the familiar clock building that served as the Tantalus "theater-group"'s hideout, their home of sorts whenever they stayed in Lindblum.

"Boss 's gonna kill me, right?"

"Nah, not too likely." he said, but didn't sound too convinced himself, "He put too much time and money into your training."

The young boy sighed and tried to climb down from the man's back.

"Sure ya can walk?" Marcus asked as he helped him down.

"No." Blank answered truthfully as he felt himself swaying. The part of solid cobble-stone street right underneath his feed had inconveniently decided to imitate wave-motions as soon as he put his whole weight onto his own legs.

"What about him?" he said, trying to divert Marcus' focus.

The teen looked down at the limb boy in his arms. "I'll carry him upstairs. He isn't in any condition to even pretend to be able to do it himself." he looked pointedly at the stubborn child still wobbling in front of him.

"Let's go then."

* * *

He woke as his nose smashed against the floor. Alarmed at once, he sat up and even after concluding that he had simply lost another fight against gravity, he still surveyed his surroundings out of habit.

As it had been expected, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. The same old Lindblum hideout, with everything you'd expect to find in a household full of notorious bachelors who spent their days as actors and their nights as thieves: costumes, scripts, wooden mugs, fallen over gil stacks, hundreds of loose parchment pieces and the stereotypical dirty socks, mingling with about half a docent men all over the floor, the table, seats, couches and pretty much everywhere else.

He groaned slightly as he caught a glimpse of the sunny streets below. Last night's meeting - which had eventually turned into a bout - had taken a toll on him. However, he knew he was still the luckiest out of the whole bunch, because years of supervising his youngest bro - who could get drunk by fresh grape-juice, not to mention a gulp of the fermented one - had taught him to know his limit very well, no matter what names the others came up with to taunt him.

He made his way through the room in a leisurely pace, avoiding heads, hands, several fake and true weapons, parchments and rise-paper that created slippery traps wherever they lay on the worn-out wood flooring.

Inside the little kitchen he didn't really find much, but it would have to do. Absentmindedly, he began to prepare breakfast - or was it lunch? - by throwing everything into the pot that touched his hand, as he still thought about the memory his last dream had reawakened.

As Marcus had predicted, Boss hadn't killed him – even if 'not harm a hair on one's head' didn't happen either.

In the end he even allowed the little kid, who had awoken just before they had opened the door, to stay. Blank doubted anyone who saw the pathetic and traumatized look in the little boy's eyes - who, by the way, managed to look remarkable like an innocent little kitten, that'd been kicked and left outside to drown - could have turned him down after all.

But as some kind of unfair natural law claimed, things never turn out the way you expect them to. The nameless boy was pronounced his responsibility until he was able to 'carry his own weight'. Which easily translated into 'I won't spent a single gil on the kid until he proves useful'.

From that night on, Blank had shared everything he owned with the newbie: his bed, food, clothes, everything, even his time in the bathtub. The last one really wasn't that much of a sacrifice, since he - as the youngest - got the last turn, which meant the water was already cold and he wasn't even sure if he rubbed more dirt off his skin or on.

* * *

She knew a lot of words to describe the market bustle, but if she would have had to choose a single one, it would have been 'abominable', which roughly translated into all sorts of negative things.

If he had to use no more than a single word to outline the same scene, he felt 'thrilling' would have been about right.

It seemed like the whole Mist Continent - pardon, Southern Continent - had chosen to attend the fare. There were all kinda things to marvel at: foreign food, needlework, weaponry, gems, mechanic toys, cloths, quills, paintings, basically everything you could name, plus a whole bunch of stuff you had neither seen nor heard of before and certainly never - ever - needed in your life before a salesman told you that you couldn't live another day without it.

The only problem was getting though the crowd in order to see the displayed goods. But this was only a hindrance for untrained people, like the poor girl he dragged behind him as he tried to take her to the best stalls, while she had to put her entire focus on not tripping over the many layers of her dress.

"The trick is," he whispered over-excitedly into her ear as he pulled her closer, his eyes twinkling with joy,"to not 'go with the current' but to actually let the people 'flow' around you. That way you don't just maneuver faster through a crowed, but you also have a chance of steering the flow towards your pursuers, one person at a time."

They could have simply used their mind-communication which would've been a lot easier and had reduced the chance they might be overheard to zero, but Mikoto suspected that he simply enjoyed to have a 'normal', Gaian conversation. She felt his excitement never the less, which helped a little to out balance the growing repulsion she felt toward the whole spectacle.

A wave of relieve washed over her as she felt him directing them into a much less crowded area, a few streets off the main ruckus. They ended up in a small, round backyard with narrow brick-and-wood-building at the sides and some kind of small clock-tower fountain in the center.

The way moving water glittered in the warm sunbeams still fascinated her in an unsettling manner. She could spent days just looking at the colors and analyzing the most efficient angle with which light and water had to encounter each other to -

But apparently her guide had better things to do, for her brother already urged her to not stay behind.

* * *

They entered a dimly lit shop to the right side. The amount of costumers didn't even hit a full dozen, but the low ceiling and the room's bad organization of display tables - which turned the shop into a sort of imprecisely elaborate maze - made the room look very crowded.

Zidane let go of her good arm, confident that she wouldn't get lost in the little armory. He walked past rows of different versions of daggers, most of which he had the pleasure to use in a fight at one time or another. A particular plain model caught his attention at once and he just had to feel the blade's hilt in his hands.

He remembered sights of the late afternoon sun, calm water and flowing hair. A confident smile. The closure of a traumatic time.

"Searching for a new weapon?" Mikoto asked him suddenly. He had been so engrossed in the mental picture, he hadn't even noticed her standing next to him, eying the blade with a functional interest.

"Yep."

"Another dagger?"

"Nope." he shook his head and put the dagger back on the table,"Definitely not looking for a short distance weapon."

The girl looked confused put decided to walk along.

"Ah, that looks more like it! Could you hold that one for a sec?" He tossed, aiming at her left hand and she caught it perfectly. It was a very basic, dark brown bow. It might have been part of a walnut at some point.

"Is it too heavy?" Zidane asked while examining another model.

After she had calculated their differences in strength and handedness, as well as experience she answered an evidenced based,"Not for you."

"Hm, I don't know. Let's try this one." he said thoughtfully as he took the bow from her and handed her a beautiful new bow with many delicate, wave-shaped carvings, made from a silver wood she had never seen before.

"Could please you hold it up a bit? That's good enough. Hm... I think I need to see it from a distance." he stepped about half a feet away from her, which was as much as the confined place allowed.

"Djidane, what is your battle-field position?" she asked after she double checked that no one was paying any attention to them or came even close enough to listen in on their conversation. No one did.

"Why, front-row of course!" his proud smile reached from one ear to the other.

"This is a bow." she stated dryly and slowly.

"Yes, Mikoto." he smiled indulgently and nodded,"That is a bow." he confirmed her statement slowly, emphasizing each word the way she had before.

"So, why are you planing to acquire it?" A disquieting assumption manifesting inside her mind.

"Me getting a bow?" he asked surprised, almost shocked,"What makes you say that?"

Mikoto lifted her hand, shot the bow a sideways glance and looked back up at him with a raised eyebrow. It almost looked like she was close to say 'Duh!' buthe knew her bon-ton wouldn't allow that one to happen.

"Oh," he chuckled, obviously glad the confusion had been able to clean up so easily,"Oh no, I'm not getting a bow. You are." At the last part, his voice had changed from an amused to an uncompromising tone that allowed no further protest for he had already made up his mind about the matter.

Mikoto didn't look too happy about it but knew better than to even attempt to convince him otherwise, and didn't ague.

"By now, you should know me better than to expect me to let you run around unarmed after what happened last time." he added softly in her head, opening his mind to the most possible extend to show her exactly what kind of things he was afraid might happen to her if she wasn't prepared properly.

His sincerity and trust this simple gesture was not only disarming, but also touched her on a completely new level. He looked out for her, cared for her without any thoughts of gaining something in return.

It felt... nice.

* * *

The rest of the day went by fast as they roamed the streets, compromising by using inconspicuously looking backstreets only locals could make out, to avoid the worst part of the masses.

After a while they actually had a lot of fun. Zidane demonstrated his superb acting skills by imitating a strange accent and greeting the vendor of a potion-stall with a loud "Rally-ho!". They saved a lot of gil at their purchases and Mikoto had the feeling the seller would have done her every bidding as long as she took that freak away from him.

Some time later Zidane begged her to buy some kind of sweet smelling thing he called a 'blueberry pie'. At that point she thought it was time to regain her position as caregiver and to protect him from another sugar-rush, as well as her own nerves from its side-effects.

As soon as she denied his request, he vanished, only to reappear at her side not two minutes later, smiling nonchalantly with a steaming hot pie in each hand. A pair of dark blue leather gloves she had never seen before protected his skin from the heat. She decided that she really didn't want to know anything about the 'how' and 'what if's this seemingly habitual action involved.

Feeling a change in her mood, Zidane playfully struck his tongue out at her.

"Your tongue is blue when you do that." she retorted unimpressed and bit into the offered pie, resolved not to show any liking to it.

Zidane's grin widened as the pie disappeared along with his glove. Swift fingers were obviously a family trait after all.

Sundown approached rapidly and soon they made their way back to the inn to unload another basket full of things they'd take back to Oeil Vert.

* * *

Shortly after they found their seats on the podium of the newly constructed semi-amphitheater outside the city walls, overlooking a good part of the audience, the headlights - big mirrors that redirected the light of multiple candles, enhancing it tenfold - started to focus on a very large man with a bellowing voice, welcoming the audience to another play of the famous Tantalus theater-group. The applause was deafening.

The play began with a dialogue of the main characters and their parents about an upcoming ball where they were destined to meet their betrothed since childhood for the first time.

The stage showed two scenes at once. The audience's focus changed between the black haired woman and her father, to the red haired man and his mother. The headlights indicated the acting pair, while the other couple froze in mid sentence as soon as they were engulfed in darkness.

Zidane didn't know that particular play but doubted the plot-line could offer anything more interesting than the memory the familiar scenery had just stirred inside him.

* * *

The air was hot and humid in the tiny kitchen.

He stood on a footstool over a basing full of hot water and watched the floating soap bubbles in awe, admiring the rainbow of colors and strangely twisted images that swirled around on the surface.

He was about eight years old. 4 140 864 minutes to be exactly, but no one believed him to knew that. They just figured 'eight' was a pretty good guess.

Next to him stood the man he had just watched perform on stage.

Well, that wasn't exactly right, for there was no man next to him.

Instead he saw a redheaded boy who looked to be about eleven years old. No one really knew his age, but again, they just figured 'eleven' was a pretty good guess.

Nauseated, said boy held up a shirt - that mysteriously seemed to have escaped last month's washday(if not more that that) - with two of his fingertips and watched it sink reluctantly into the soapy water, creating mud-colored whirlpools and creepy gurglingly noises as it went down.

"Ugh! Disgusting!"

Zidane laughed in agreement and joked about the shirt's owner. He stopped in his tracks as he noticed one of Blank's 'what-the-heck-is-that-comming-out-of-your-mouth?' frowns.

Immediately, the little blond boy clasped a wet hand over his mouth. He sighed inwardly and hung his shoulders. He had learned so much since Boss allowed him to stay and later named him a member of Tantalus, but there were just things he had a hard time adjusting to, like using 'Common'.

'Common' was a language most Gaians spoke, at least to a basic degree.

Blank had put a lot of effort into teaching him the most basic parts of it but got frustrated a lot along the way. After a while, they found out that Marcus was a much better teacher. He was even tempered and possessed a seemingly unlimited reservoir of patience, but since his time was very limited - being the Boss' right hand does that to people - the apparently one-eyed boy had offered to take over most of the young man's shores for compensation.

As much as Zidane admired Marcus' teaching skills - which accomplished rapid results - he admired Blank's action even more. It takes a lot to voluntarily do something you hate more than about anything, just to help out someone else. The red haired boy just shrugged it off and wouldn't hear any of the youngster's apologies for being a letdown.

While he thought, he failed to note that his working-partner, who had put another armful of laundry into the tub, watched him intensely with his stormy left eye.

After two years, he had become quite good at reading the blond. Like right now, he thought about the past, probably about something he couldn't do or hadn't done. Whatever it was, it aggravated him, which showed quite obviously by the way his tail twitched fitfully from side to side.

"The thing with the tail" he mused silently.

It had been a much discussed matter in the group – whenever the little one wasn't around. Of course they had all seen people with tails before - after all you just had to take a look out of the window - but those invariably came along with a matching body, like the Burmecian's for example. But the kid looked perfectly normal - or as 'normal' as you can get in a society of people with all kinds of shapes. No one they knew - and non of these people those knew - had ever seen a person like him before.

But this wasn't the only odd thing about Zidane. Apart from other facts - like his uncanny sight at night, enormous hearing range, matchless balance, etcetera - his knowledge of a seemingly non-existing language (which he still used whenever he didn't think about it first) were just as reasonable as they were helpful to decipher his origins. Even Boss, who had been to about every known settlement – as well as to those no sane person wanted to know they even subsisted - could manage to come even close to an answer.

He shook his head vehemently. After all, none of this mattered. Zidane was Zidane and that was all he needed to know.

"Hey! Gaia to Zidane." he said while he waved a hand in his direction,"Oh, come on, this isn't our only task for today."

No response.

"Chesh, boy, do you really want to tell Boss you haven't finished your shores whenever he comes back to give you another reading lesson?"

The younger boy gulped soundly. No, he really didn't want that.

If there was anything worse than to not finishing your tasks, it was definitively confessing to Boss you didn't. The only intensification of that would be to have to tell Boss you didn't finish your tasks when he decided to invest time into your education.

The other thing was, that he just didn't grasp the whole concept of written words.

"Read what it says, boy." a frustrated man said, obviously close to another infamous temper-fit.

"a.c.t.o.r." he spelled as he wrote each letter in a bold handwriting on the slate. "Read it."

"'a.c.t.o.r.'" the blond boy repeated. A vein started pounding on the big man's forehead.

"I didn't tell you to spell it, I told you to read it and I'm telling you again: read it!" his voice echoed painfully in the child's ears.

The boy's eyes got teary for he knew the only answer he could provide was the one he had just given.

"Urg, let's try it again, maybe this one works better." the man walked up to the board again and marked the beginning and the end of the word with a vertical line, as well as the space between the 'c' and 't' to illustrate the syllable division.

"ac," he paused for a moment and continued,"tor."

"'ac-tor'" a faint voice repeated.

"That's right. Again." the man smiled into his beard, glad that the ice had apparently been broken.

"'ac-tor', 'ac-tor', 'ac-tor'!" the blond said, growing more confident each time.

"That's enough. Now, write it down."

He did, but as soon as he but the last vertical line on the parchment the table shook with an enormous force. Zidane yelped with fear.

"Are you trying to be funny, boy?!" the leader of Tantalus snapped at the shaking youngster.

"N-no, Sir."

"How do you expect to even pretend to be an 'ac-tor' without the will to learn how to read?!"

"I-I..."

"Just go."

Zidane left the Boss' office with hunched shoulders, fighting back tears.

"You're such a loser." Nath greeted him beastly at as soon as the doors closed behind him.

"I can pick your pocket at anytime." the boy retorted angrily, masking every bit of sadness and shame with anger.

"Oh really, is that so, Ziddy?" the black haired boy smirked, sensing the other one's pain and enjoying every ounce of it.

"Name 's Zidane." he protested, although it didn't sound as tough as he had aimed to let it sound.

"Well, then," the older boy continued, ignoring the protest,"let me congratulate you, Zilame. For that is all you'll ever be: a lowly pickpocket who can't even pretend to be an actor because he is too stupid to read." his voice was smooth as silk with the cutting edge of a knife.

Zidane's bottom lip trembled. It was one thing being told once, but he couldn't take it a second time. He just hoped for a miracle that would allow him to get away from Nath before he started to cry.

The miracle happened, at least to the degree that Blank had just finished his work outside and entered the room, instantly drawing the right lines as he saw the mean-spirited twelve year old tower over the furiously shaking eight year old.

"Stop it, you big jerk!" he yelled furiously and tried to land a punch on the surprised preteen's cheek.

His target – who possessed the advantage of a well developed muscle tone – avoided the gangly redheads attack with ease, knowing his aim was very poor since one-eyed vision always included a strong lack of depth perception.

"Don't let me get started on you, scar-face!" he said arrogantly,"Get my cloak or I'll tell Baku I got sick because you stole it."

"In your dreams I will!" the eleven year old spat at his face, outraged about the fact that that bastard had just broken one of the most important of the unspoken Tantalus rules: no one, NO ONE ever called the boss by his name, except Marcus who was the oldest, most experienced and had been longer at Boss' side than anyone else.

Nath snapped and used all his physical advantages to lift the boy off the floor by his collar and slamming his back forcefully against the closest wall. "How dare you, you little -"

"Let. Him. Down." demanded a dangerously calm voice.

Both boys turned their heads towards the new arrival. They saw a mop of blond hair peep out from behind Marcus.

Marcus.

He was one of those rare men who never even had to do as much as raising his voice to make sure no one seriously wanted to mess with him. It wasn't so much his wild appearance nor the obvious evidence in his arms that showed the long hours he worked at the forge, that made him radiate an almost unequaled sense of authority, but it sure didn't do any harm in the matter.

Nath's violet eyes narrowed dangerously before he loosened his grip around Blank's neck, sending him gruffly to the ground where he stayed motionlessly, breathing heavily.

With his head held up high the blackhead left without another word or backward glance.

A chubby looking kid jumped from his seat in the right hand corner - from were he had witnessed the whole ruckus - meaty hands clutching an amethyst-colored cloak and run after the retrieving figure.

"Wait Nath, you forgot your coat!" he shouted as he too left the scene.

* * *

Zidane stared in horror at Marcus' blood coated hand as he had finished to checked on Blank, who was biting his lower lip and still looked little dazed.

"It looks worse than it is." the young man assured him calmly,"Get some fresh water and the medical box for me please, will ya?"

The blond nodded quickly and spurted shakily out of the room. The two older Tantalus boys sighed in unison.

"Good thinking, man." Blank croaked painfully,"Thought the kid was gonna faint any second now."

"He cares a great deal for you."

Silence.

Zidane entered the room with a big wooden box in his arms and turned around hastily as soon as he set his load on the table, to get the up heading water from the kitchen.

"That was pretty brave." Marcus told his patient as he removed the bandana only to instantly replace it with a clean cotton stripe from within the box.

"You mean 'pretty stupid'." the redhead grunted.

Marcus smiled. Somethings would never change.

* * *

Wow, this chapter is long O.O did anyone else notice? Its like three times as long as my other chapters!

Omg, I have to go to school in like, 2.5 hours T.T can't believe I worked all night on this chapter(+ all day yesterday)

_Updates: Every week somewhere between friday afternoon and sunday night (____GMT__+2) _

Please leave me a review^.^


	8. Found and Lost

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 7

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi there^__^

Welcome to another chapter of "As an Ending"!

I know its a week late but I'm working hard on a 20 page research paper about how a ketogenic diet prevents epileptic seizures(fascinating subject^.^).

Aaaanyway, I want to thank Clement Rage and Kyubi-Emz-Chan again for their supportive feedback^^

**Important: **italic sentences are 'mind spoken'. I think its a lot better than repeating "he thought to her" etc. -- still gonna do that, but not all the time.

This chapter's song is the English version of "Fall in Love" by Lena Park a truely beautiful piece of music!

* * *

**Disclaimer**

the planned second part of FFIX would be out by now

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven." T. Edwards

* * *

Another full blue moon rose over the peaceful town of Alexandria, but the lonely silhouette on the castle's highest roofless tower payed no attention to it. Instead she focused solely on the red crescent that would very soon push its way between Gaia and the moon, officially announcing the seasons' change. This time it proclaimed the beginning of spring and everything that came with it, including her looming birthday.

She sighed miserably. Four years ago, before her father had died, she had been so very sure of the path her life would follow. She would fall in love with a noble who loved her just as much, get married and give birth to a strong heir – all before she turned twenty.

"And they lived happily ever after." she mumbled sardonically.

She had long since learned that marriage scarcely involved love.

Three years ago, she thought she could just go to Lindblum, her uncle would talk to her mother out of her war-planning thoughts and everything would return to the way it was before. A happy ending.

She had been quixotic and naïve.

'I like that about you. You look at the world and see all the good, despite all you have learned of the bad' _he_ had once told her during his depression. He had sounded so wishfully and honest, not a single hint of mockery in his voice, just a longing to find back to his former self.

"The moons are beautiful tonight." The brunet cringed as the soft voice startled her.

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty. I did not mean to frighten you."

"There is no need to apologize, Beatrix." Garnet turned her head to the one-eyed woman and resumed watching the luminary.

"You know, in actual fact there is only one moon. The 'blood moon' is a planet."

Beatrix nodded. "So I have been told." She knew Steiner, the Captain of the castle guards and her, well, her lover – just thinking about it managed to raise a faint blush on the war hardened woman's cheek - had told her about his journey with the former princess. But at certain parts he seemed to skip some details. This mostly concerned the Lindblum heir's birthplace and their visit on the red orb above.

Peaceful silence engulfed them while each dwelt on her own thoughts.

* * *

"You mean 'pretty stupid'." the redhead grunted.

Marcus smiled. Somethings would never change.

Zidane got yanked out of his memories as the assembled audience broke out in a hurricane of applause. Slightly disoriented he stood up and joined the masses while the play's main actors stepped in front of the drawn curtain, linked hands and bowed towards the rapturous spectators.

After several more minutes, the majority of the people in the semicircular amphitheater edged towards the main exit. This didn't give the two siblings another chance than to follow the current, unless they wished to be trampled.

The many stone steps were still slippery from the late afternoon rain. While she tried to avoid stepping on long trailed gowns and cloaks, as well as her own dress, all the while being pushed from all sides, Mikoto failed to notice that her brother had left his place behind her.

"_Damn pickpocket!_" as she caught his stray thoughts, she tried to escape the mob, to follow him, but to no avail. The flock of humans didn't tolerate anymore disturbances on their way.

At the same time that Zidane had to admit his defeat for the small thief had simply vanished in the crowd and he realized that he had been pickpocket for the first time - it was a commonly accepted rule that no thief stole from another thief -, he had also become aware of the distance this incident had put between him and his sister.

"_Mikoto, where are you? Are you all right?_" he felt bad for absentmindedly leaving her alone in the big, alien city.

"_I am fine._" she answered almost instantly. "_We passed the main gate some time back, but more specific than 'There are shoulders to my left, right, front and behind me' I can not get concerning my whereabouts._" She sounded mildly frustrated as well as concerned.

Zidane was concerned too, for this information wasn't very helpful in the means of locating her. But he still couldn't suppress a grin as she sent him a mental image of being surrounded by shoulders and backs. She had grown since he had first met her on Terra and so had he. Now, she was close to one and a half heads shorter than he was. But since he wasn't one of the tallest guys around... well, it didn't really help her chances to spot something that would help him to pinpoint her location.

"_We enter some kind of high-roofed building._" she reported and managed to provide him with a short glimpse of the house's entrance.

"An air cab terminal!" he thought joyously, relieved to finally have a clue where he could find his sister.  
While he tried to think of a faster way to get to her than pushing through the tightly packed crowd, Mikoto was pushed into one of the air caps he had introduced her to during the day. While she had felt uneasy the last time they had used it, she now felt caged. Since the small room didn't allow much of an air exchange, all the different perfumes and other smells bit her sensitive nose.

"_Mikoto, remember, whatever you do, don't -_" he tried to warn her. Before he could finish he felt 'something'.

He knew he would never be able to describe this feeling to someone who hadn't experienced it before. It was the - literally - painful realization that the mental bond with his sister just snapped out of existence. This made him feel lost and antsy, a condition he remembered all too well from his past. It had made him leave Tantalus a couple of times. The only difference was that he felt a strong draw towards the west instead of a higher place.

* * *

Before she knew it, Mikoto stood more or less alone in front of an unfamiliar air cab terminal. The sign above the entrance probably announced the district's name, but since she had never seen this particular word before, the young girl was utterly clueless about its meaning.

While she still balanced pros and cons of whether it was more effective to stay put and wait for Zidane or to try to look for him herself, an ominous feeling nestled into the pit of her stomach. Carefully she turned around, chiding herself for not paying better attention to her surroundings before hand.

The narrow cobblestone streets were empty and he lights inside the multistory houses were out. The streetlamp was to dim to properly lighten more than the center piece of the small plaza, leaving the many corners in complete darkness. She shuddered lightly.

There it was, the danger her instincts had tried to warn her of. She smelled them before she was even able to see them. They smelled of machine oil, sweat and other things - some of which she would later learn to be cheap wine and makeshift cigars.

"Hey look, Magdalene found a replacement!" a pig-eyed, fat man shouted and staggered into the light, accompanied by two other more bulky looking men. His glassy eyes gawked at her hungrily.

The hairs on her neck stood on end. Mikoto took a step back every time he took one towards her, until she felt a pair of rough hands gripping her waist forcefully. She turned her head and saw a fourth man behind her. She had been trapped.

"And what a sweet little thing she is!" her captor said as he gruffly pulled her closer, burring his nose in her hair, before he pushed her forcefully against the fat one.

The intact, combined with the terrible stench, was enough to bring the girl on the edge of unconsciousness. The men laughed cruelly. She heard several ripping noises that she later recognized as the sound of several skirt layers being ripped off, as the men clutch to them while they pushed her around.  
She tried to break out of the circle several times, but to no avail.

"Don't be like that, sugar! We just want to have some fun." another said with a lecherous grin.

"Let h'r go immediately!" an outraged voice shouted.

The group turned angrily toward the person who had just appeared inside the circle of light.

The huge man, who had taken a painfully hold of Mikoto's left shoulder, looked dismissively at the woman in front of them. She looked to be in her early twenties with long light-blueish hair and a thin, ankle-long cloak that didn't entirely hide her quite revealing attire.

He grinned. "Don't worry, darling, you can join us anytime." he tossed the blond girl to the ground.

While the woman glared at him murderously, one of his soberer accomplices paled visibly as he realized who stood before them.

"We... We'll go... now." he stammered and tried to get the man to back away as well.

"What the hell is the matter with you coward?" snarled the hulk at him. "I'm not going to -"

Something in his partner's eyes must have told him that the pale man indeed wasn't afraid of the woman herself, but someone who wouldn't tolerate any kind of harassment towards her. He gulped audibly as he finally recognized the small silver pendant in the female's hand.

She smiled victorious as they almost fell over each other as they hastily fled the scene.

The smile turned into frown that contained just as much hatred for these men as it contained concern and sympathy for the young girl that still cowered on the floor.

She approached her slowly and heard a painful groan as the blond tried to get up.

"Let me help ya up." she said softly,"Don't yer worry, darlin', these scumbags won't dare to get near you ever again."  
While she supported some of the girl's weight, she noticed the bandage around her right fore arm and remembered the man's hold on her left shoulder. No wonder the poor girl had trouble getting up on her own!

"Ow dear," the older one said as she saw the damage that had been done to the youngster's skirt. There was only a single layer left which didn't do much to hide the girl's angrily twitching tail. She put her cloak over her short hair and looked at her reassuringly.

"My name is Ruby. And ya are?" she asked in a heavily accented voice.

"Mikoto." the girl answered somewhat absentmindedly. She just realized that Zidane had reentered the range that allowed them to communicate with each other. He on the other hand didn't seem to have noticed it yet, which gave her some time to calm her thoughts. He didn't need to be concerned with this incident.

'Ruby' nodded thoughtfully before she looked at Mikoto's face. For a short moment she thought she had turned insane. For a few seconds she saw a younger version of her longtime friend - who had undergone a journey to save the world, or something along those lines - in front of her. After she saw the blond's eyes, she recalled another observation she had made before. She had grown so used to it over the years that it hadn't struck her as odd until now: this girl had a tail!

While Ruby was momentarily occupied by her realization, Mikoto noted with a sinking heart that the worst case scenario had just occurred: She had run into someone who had known her brother and who - at this very moment - tried to make the connection between them.

She was also aware of the fact that he was close now - very close. He was extremely worried because she hadn't answered his calls. But she knew she couldn't. Mikoto gritted her teeth in frustration. She hated not being in control. But the chance was to high that she would lose control of her thoughts and let something slip... It would hurt him much more than her continuing lack of communication. Besides, she had to loose this woman before he found them.

Mikoto had no idea what gave her thoughts away, but it was obvious that her rescuer didn't have the intention of letting her get away before she hadn't told her what she wanted to know.

"Wait!" the woman called out, just as both of them heard an alarmed sounding 'Mikoto!' from the air-cab terminal's exit.

Ruby gasped as she witnessed a young man running towards them, hugging the defeated looking girl and speaking to her in a whispering tone how glad he was that he had found her and why she hadn't answered his calls.

She wasn't sure what he had meant with the later, but pushed the thought aside, there were more urgent matters to be discussed. She cough slightly to get his attention but he was to absorbed in his conversation.

"Zidane?" she asked, not in an unsure tone, more in a 'can-I-please-have-your-attention'ly fashion.

"Mhm?" He turned his head to her curiously, but his expression darkened as he realized he had dropped his guard. "Who? Me?"

Ruby's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Ay, ya mister!" she said, clearly not in the mood to goof around, "Don't see anyone else hidin' his tail under a fancy cloak!" This wasn't entirely true since Mikoto stood right next to him, but she just didn't care. She took hold of one of his dark eyebrows and gave it a good pull.

He stared at her in shock, waiting to feel the indignation her action would cause.  
Nothing happened.  
He didn't even feel like he should be angry with this strange woman with her even stranger attitude. It felt more like it was alright, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Who are you?" he asked, curious again.

Ruby saw him questionably turn to the young girl, but before Ruby noticed a single movement that might have given him an answer, he turned his glance back to herself.

She locked her eyes with his and knew beyond all doubt that her suspicion had been right.

In front of her stood Zidane Tribal.

But Ruby also saw that he neither played nor lied to her. He truly didn't remember anything about her.  
She felt sad. Sad for the things that must have happened to him in the past years and sad for herself, for it seemed she had lost her little brother.

* * *

Hi there! I hope you liked this chapter.

**Btw.** I seriously have no idea how to write a south-American accent *sighs* Ruby has a Bavarian accent in the German version (I guess south is south). If anyone has an idea how to improve it: just hand it over, please?**  
**

Please give me some feed back!


	9. Tantalus

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 2

* * *

**Author's note**

Hi there!

Yay, my city hosts a 3-day Renaissance fair this weekend(incl. Monday) I'm so happy^^

It's the only time of the year my medieval dresses (which I wear on a regular basis) are considered absolutely normal *drop*

I even got free entrance and special food-prizes (first one for 'dressing up' and the later because the salesman thought I worked at a differed booth) :3

Thanks to Clement Rage and Kyubi-Emz-Chan (who was too lazy to log-in but reviewed never the less!).

Important:_ **italic**_ sentences are used to signal 'mind-talking'

In addition I posted a link in my profile that will lead you to a masterfully done **fanart of Blank** (by *The-Z) which had been a great inspiration for writing this ff.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company we'd have seen a lot more of Ruby's talents!)

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now." Author Unknown -

* * *

"The eighth step from the top is still creaky?" Zidane asked as the three of them entered the clock house that served as the Tantalus' hideout whenever they spent time in Lindblum.

Ruby nodded, trying her best not to feel piqued because he remembered the 'eighth step from the top' but not her. "Of course it does." she answered in a light tone. She was an actress and the whole situation wasn't his fault after all.

"It works like a door bell," he explained Mikoto in a quiet whisper,"It gives them enough time to... well, hide stuff."

Ruby opened the hatchway above their heads, stepped on the plunged rope ladder and put her head into the room above, before vanishing from site entirely.

The room war brightly lit and she found herself face to face with the whole gang, including their additional members and the entire band.

She greeted the group with the established Tantalus salute – a wavelike motion with her right arm that was intercepted by the wrist with her left wrist, creating a paradox hand gesture of a fist behind a praying hand-gesture in front of her chest. The men rose from their seats and returned the gesture before they sat back down.

She spotted Blank in his usual attire – a black sleeveless top with a loose turtleneck, gray pants with multiple pockets and the obligatory belt around his forehead that allowed his environment to only see his stormy-gray left eye. He stood casually against a support log in the later half of the room. She winked at him before stepping to the side to make room for the next person who had just entered the room behind her.

While she helped Mikoto – who obviously hadn't had a lot of experience with this kind of entrance – she eyed Zidane with a grin from the corner her eyes. He looked pitiful with his lopsided dark beard under the blond eyebrows that had taken a toll from her rather thuggish removal of the fake one's.

Zidane met eyes with most people – both familiar and unfamiliar – and smirked crookedly.

After that, no one was fooled about who he was, except for Cinna, who looked very confused as their leader suddenly bellowed with laughter and rose ungracefully.

"I'll be jiggered!" the heavily build man roared and grinned while he made his way toward his youngest foster-son.

At first, it looked like he was about to hug the young man, but he caught himself and hit the blond square in the chest instead. "Yer'r late, boy!" he said gruffly.

The force was enough to loosen the glue's last hold on the fake beard and the hairpiece just slipped off his face, dangling around his neck like a bib.

His smile returned immediately and he straitened up properly. "Good to see ya too, Boss." he saluted Tantalus' style. The older man nodded his approval.

As on cue, everyone in the room suddenly pushed forward and bombarded him with greetings and all kind of questions. But nobody asked where he had been all this time.

Blank watched the scene with mild interest from afar. He'd wait for the excitement to cool off before welcoming his best friend properly. For now he would settle with simply observing how the new arrival wriggled himself out of the situation. He knew from experience that there was little Zidane liked less than being cornered.

"Ehm, guys..." Zidane said, but didn't get through the still gushing voices of the crowd that was frighteningly large for a room, that had suddenly gained claustrophobic proportions.

"Hey!" he shouted loudly after whistling sharply, finally piercing through the noise.

"This," he carefully put his arm around Mikoto's shoulder,"is Mikoto Tribal, my -" he introduced, but got interrupted by several approving whistles and congratulating shouts.

"Ohwe man, I thought you were going for that little princess!" Someone protested loudly.

"Well, at least she's cute!" another one shouted.

Ruby groaned inaudibly and saw the same reaction in Blank's expression. Apparently he had come to the same conclusion she had – that these two were, without any doubt, close relatives to say the least. Probably siblings. If it weren't for the obvious age difference, they could have been twins. But this – much to their disbelieve – seemed to have been a widely overseen fact as the crowd continued to complain about not being invited when he'd 'tied the knot'.

"Hey, wowowo!" Zidane exclaimed while stepping in front of his sister, making a gesture like he tried to stop a racing Behemoth with his bare hands.

"Sheez men, seriously! She's my sister!" while this few words stunned the room into silence, he held his own face cheek to cheek to Mikoto's to emphasize their similarities.

"I knew she reminded me of someone!" No one reacted to Cinna's flash of genius.

As soon as the men's attention had completely returned to Zidane, Ruby approached Mikoto and guided her her away from everyone's view.

"Come with me, darlin'. We'll find ya a nice lookin' dress befo' t'e party starts." she smiled warmly at the girl who followed her willingly toward a small corkscrew staircase.

As they arrived at the top, Mikoto found herself in a very dark, narrow corridor. She could still make out several doors to both sides and figured that the woman in front of her wouldn't be able to see a thing.

But years of practice enabled Ruby – who in fact couldn't see her own hand in front of her face – to move swiftly towards one of the last doors on the left and opened it. They must have been directly under the roof for the sound of their footsteps was almost drowned out from the pitta-patta of raindrops.

As Mikoto entered the room, Ruby had already lightened an oil lamp which engulfed the room in a soft yellow light that forced the shadows into the numerous corners.

"D'is is t'e Tantalus' costume stock." the blue-haired declared with a sense of pride.

The blond's eyes widened slightly as she took in the sight before her. The chamber that was almost cut in half by the pitch of the roof and several low trusses was stuffed with more dresses, cloaks, hats and other cloths than she had ever seen in one place before. She couldn't make out any kind of storage system for the pieces seemed to be randomly grouped on shelves, tables, in trunks of various sizes or hanging on rails.

"Uff... these guys are incredible! D'is place used to be in tip-top order!" Ruby grumbled loudly while vanishing behind a row of misshapen looking masks and other leather made body-parts, taking the only light source with her. She signaled the girl to follow her.

"I'd offer ya one of my old dresses, but I'm afraid d'ey'll be way too loose on you." she eyed the younger one from head to toe, deciding what she could offer her instead. " I have never been as dainty as ya're now." she added right before her eyes lightened up and a wild grin formed on her lips.

She spun with a masterfully pirouette around and – after rummaging for a few minutes – dug out a medium sized trunk that must have come from the back most corner of the room. With a victorious expression on her face, Ruby put it – two inch layer of dust and all – on the next table and grinned at her companion.

"As I said, none of my things will fit ya but d'is one will!" she lifted a long sleeved, light blue dress out of the box. "Yer brother wore it t'e first time I saw him perform."

After she had readjusted the lacing on the sides, the woman took a step back to admire her work. "Cute as a button!"

Mikoto didn't know why a button was supposed to be cute but decided to simply smile and drop her glance to the floor like she had seen other girls that looked her age do whenever someone complimented them.

Ruby persisted on putting the young blond before a looking glass, before they returned back downstairs.

Mikoto looked at her reflection for a moment, turned slightly from side to side. She looked different. The light colored fabric - in contrast to her usual black and pink, edge-cut Terran outfit – flowed around her and created a harmonic contrast to her cream colored skin and golden hair. The neckline was quite low, but revealed nothing past the collarbone thanks to a piece of sewn in white fabric.

The shoulder parts were a different matter entirely. With horror did she notice the palm- and finger-shaped bruise on her left shoulder.

Ruby stared at it too, but for a different reason. The mark hadn't been there an hour before, but had already turned into a dark blue.

"We'll hav'ta adjust the lacing a bit, ya'll loose t'e top if we don't." the woman announced and pulled the strings on the girls shoulders tighter. "D'ere, now it fits." And it did for only someone who knew of the bruise would be able to spot the flimsy end of the fingerprint that the fabric's edge.

"Thank you... for everything." Mikoto said and looked up. Ruby smiled and opened the door for her as they made their way back staircase.

"We all hav'ta look out for each other, makes the world a better place, ne?"

They could hear loud talking from downstairs, indicating that the celebration had already begun.

* * *

Blank made his way out of the room slowly, not wanting to upset his head anymore than necessary. It didn't matter that he had mostly grown up with the smell of tobacco, the excessive use of pipes in close proximity still promised him a throbbing headache every time. "Ahh." he exclaimed in relieve as he deeply in- and exhaled the fresh, salty night air, already feeling the pain and accompanying drowsiness fade away.

He blinked as his eye slowly adjusted to the darkness - that was only broken in a few spots by the light that shown through the small windows from the inside. On the far end of the narrow, wide-stretched rooftop balcony he saw a small silhouette. He stepped closer and recognized her as the girl Zidane had introduced as his sister. What had been her name again? Something starting with an 'M', a name he had never heard of before...

She didn't show any obvious sign of recognizing his approach, but living with Zidane had taught him to see the small things in a person's body-language.

The way her shoulder's squared by less than half an inch signaled that she was well aware of her company. He quarreled with himself whether to just walk back or speak to her. He hadn't missed the tattered shape of her skirt as she 'd stepped into the hideout or the way she tried to hide it from view. This, combined with the significant look Ruby answered his questioning glance with, let him to the conclusion that it had been far from a fashion statement.

He didn't want her to leave Lindblum with the expression that all men there were lecherous bastards.

"Mind if I join you?" A tentative question was always the best way to start. She could accept his offer or simply state that she had been about to leave anyway.

She turned to him slowly and looked him straight in the eye. He got the feeling that she was looking for something specific. He assumed she had found it – whatever it had been – for she accepted his company with a formal 'Please do'.

He stepped closer and rested his forearms on the wooden handrail. For several minutes they watched the fading lights in the lower part of Lindblum in silence.

"So, ehm, Mijoko," he tried to stir off a conversation – without much success.

"'Mikoto'." she corrected calmly.

"Riiight, sorry about that, Mikoto."

She shrugged indifferently.

He thought about what he' say next but found it extremely difficult to come up with a good topic. Why was talking to her so hard?

He'd never had trouble talking to a girl before. He could go to the next pup and walk out with one lady on each arm in less than half an hour, for all it was worth.

In the end he decided to simply state his business without the usual prologue people tend to comply in every conversation they have.

"Thank you for taking him here. We've been worried about him."

The conversation went better from then on and they chatted about various topics, until Blank asked about the things Mikoto had been most reluctant to answer.

"Please, tell me about your family." He was very curious, she could tell, but not prying.

She knew he'd settle for any response, even a outright refusal. The truth was, she actually wanted to tell him because she felt like he deserved to know after all he had done for her brother and (obviously unseen) the people of Gaia. No, she couldn't tell him much of this quite precarious issue, but she would try to stay as close to the truth as possible.

"We live on the Western Continent, surrounded by desert canyons. It's only a very small community but its fine as long as everyone does his part." Mikoto lowered her gaze to the buildings below and fell silent. To let people use their imagination was always the best way to hide the truth without lying or giving any audience the feeling they missed something vital.

Just as she had expected him to do, Blank didn't settle for the things he had just heard. Instead he observed her tone and gesture very closely, especially the things she had left unsaid.

No mention of familiar ties gave him the impression – as he was an orphan himself - that her parents had died and that she had inherited a lot of responsibility from them. Living in a small community was almost like a children living on the streets: you had to grow up really fast in order to take your share of responsibility as soon as possible. Every new child was an extra to feed without being able to work for the foot.

It also explained a lot about her, particularly the way she talked and held herself: like a much older person, someone who was used to give and receive orders.

"Do you know the story behind the dress you're wearing?"

She shook her head,"Nothing more that Zidane used to performed in it."

He grinned secretive, like he was about to let her in on a big secret.

"You see, it was about six years ago – he must have been a little younger than you are now, maybe twelve or thirteen, anyway – before Ruby joint us, he had to do all the female roles since his voice was the only one left with a high pitch.

"You have to know, Ruby is an artist with everything she does, especially her hair – but that's a different story.", he grinned before he continued.

"So she thought it was her mission to perfect his costume by putting his hair – it was almost twice as long as yours -into hot irons, crating the most skillfully done corkscrew-curls I'd ever seen, effectively crushing his male pride into oblivion." they shared a whole hardly laugh.

"And his make up was excellent. We were asked frequently were we found this cute little actress.

"He wouldn't come out of his closet for days. We had to promise him to keep her at bay from that time on." he concluded, just as as 'hrm' sounded behind them.

Utterly startled, they turned around to find a not very amused looking Zidane behind them.

While Mikoto was under the impression that his foul mood originated from her laughing about him – she could only guess since he was the one who blocked his thoughts this time – Blank understood that it had nothing to do with the little anecdote he had just shared.

While Zidane suggested his sister to follow Ruby's invitation to rest in her room and led her toward the house, he looked at the red head with a suspicious glare. Before he turned his eyes away, Blank – who was beyond shock by the accusation his friend's eyes had implied - hastily mouthed 'She's a child!'. The blond nodded in acknowledgment. They'd talk about it later.

Ruby and Mikoto had just started to climb up the small spiral staircase as the Boss' roaring voice concluded his former speech about how popular the group had become among the nobles - all trying to ape the main continent's most influential rulers who had taken a liking to Tantalus' plays.

"And in less than a moon," he continued,"we'll all perform at the Queen's birthday in Alexandria!"

"Alexandria?" Zidane almost choked on the water he'd been drinking and stared at the man in disbelieve.

Baku just showed a toothy grin and nodded. "Yer on board, boy?" it was less a question than a demand.

Mikoto had stopped death in her tracks, awaiting his decision. Alexandria was a topic they had been avoiding ever since the incident in Oeil Vert months ago.

Zidane hesitated for a moment.

Not remembering Ruby had made him wary of how many more people he had forgotten. Was he even himself without that knowledge? But he really wanted to see her again, his Dagger. His many dreams and memories of her had made it obvious that he'd cherished the time they'd spent together more than anything else.

Why not going back to her now?

"Aye, Captain!"

* * *

- Wow, this chapter was really difficult to write (it felt kinda like old chewing-gum at times) but I hope it turned out all right. What do you think?

Please review - it'll seriously make my day! Thank you ^_^


	10. Preparations

**Contend**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 9

* * *

**Author's Note**

Wuhu, no more research! ^_^ Jep, I finished that stupid paper and I feel great^^

Clement Rage and Kyubi-Emz-Chan are (as always ^.-) totally awesome for reviewing^^

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

(Honestly? If I owned that company *please insert one random thing you wish had been better*)

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Whenever I cried he would always make me feel like he would change the world if he could so it couldn't hurt me anymore. But now I'm crying and he's not here

* * *

Adelbert Steiner, captain of the Alexandrian Queen's Knights of Pluto, grumbled surlily as he watched the black haired man lead his Queen towards the more secluded parts of the castle grounds.

He – along with the royal general Beatrix – had tried their best to discourage even the most persistent of the Queen's suitors, who had showne more interest in the title 'Prince consort' than any other aspect that a marriage would involve.

Having said that, this one, a very popular and aspiring adopted stepson of one of Alexandria's most influential nobles, proofed to be a hart nut to crack. The Captain couldn't lay his finger on it, but 'something' about that young man made him want to unsheathe his sword and get into action.

* * *

"'How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said.'" he finished his performance with a theatrical knee-fall, the velvety tone in which he rendered the play died away all too soon.

"Bravo." Garnet said smilingly and gave a small applause as Nathan de Lairén bowed gracefully and took a seat in the wrought-iron chair opposite the young queen's.

"'Kissed by Dawn'," she stated approvingly,"a highly unknown piece of literature."

"True, true. To the best of my belief, I dare say, it presents Lord Hugo's chef d'oeuvre, a truly unappreciated masterpiece, only rivaled by Lord Avon's work."

"I agree wholeheartedly, especially -" At that very moment a she noted a fast approaching silhouette and rose from her seat, as did her companion.

Soon, she identifyed the figure as one of her 'Venus Verticordia' – a regiment of female soldiers, that had been initiated almost three hundred years ago by King Alexander XIX - who hadn't trusted any man whenever it came to his beloved daughter – as an exclusive life guard for all Alexandrian princesses and queens.

"Your Majesty," the girl said breathlessly as she bowed deeply before the pair,"the Hilda-Garde 5 just landed outside the castle walls."

Garnet's face lit up and she nodded for the lady-knight to continue. "Captain Steiner and his Knights of Pluto went to escort the Regent and his family to the castle."

"Tell General Beatrix to await my return shortly. You are dismissed."

The soldier saluted, took a few backwards steps and run back to the palace.

"Would your Majesty honor this lost soul by accepting his company on the way back to the right path, which leads out of this vast gardens - without the opprobrium to admit he has entirely lost his ways?" he asked with a beautiful smile and the most convincing imitation of lost-puppy-eyes she had ever seen.

Garnet smiled.

"It shall be my pleasure." She took the arm he offered to her and they continued their conversation on their way pack to the palace.

* * *

The heavy footsteps were audible long before the guards opened the big iron doors leading to the throne-room.

"Cid Fabool the ninth, Regent of Lindblum. Accompanied by his wife Lady Hilda Fabool the third and daughter Eiko Fabool the first." another guard announced formally.

Garnet's joy increased even more as she heard the last part, for she knew her aunt and uncle had planned to adopt the little summoner but - until today - Eiko had always been announced separately with her grandfather's surname.

Obviously overjoyed by this exact change, the small family entered the room.

Regent Cid – an older, white-haired man with an v-shaped mustache, which disputed the existence of gravity – was endeavored to hide his excitement during the formal, in cliches greeting, but his deep blue eyes shone with the love for his assembled family. It was the same light she saw reflected in Lady Hilda's features.

The contrast, that the caramel curls created to the age-old wisdom which was so very evident in her blue-gray eyes, had always fascinated the young queen.

But as she took a look at the couple's 'daughter' she had to hold back laughter.

Eiko had mostly stayed true to herself in the months since she'd received the Regent's invitation to spent some time with him and his wife in Lindblum.

At first she had felt bad for leaving Dagger to herself ("What are you just gonna do without me?") but soon found herself enjoying all the attention and company a newly crowned queen couldn't offer.

But weeks had turned into months and eventually the little girl had accepted the couple's offered to move out of the guest-room into a private chamber on the top-floor of the grand castle, right next to the regents' chamber.

Seeing her now, standing quietly next to an elegant Lady, in a soft pink, lace trimmed dress - which reached half way down her calf – with her hand demurely in front of her, Garnet hardly recognized the wild, attention-starved child she had met more than two years ago.

Only when they moved on to a smaller chamber to talk in private, did the tamed facade crumble. There she launched herself at her cousin-of-sorts, burring her face in the light green fabric of her dress.

Garnet returned the hug, while she tried to keep the Summoner's Horn – which had gained less length than it had sharpness – off her skin. Smilingly she stroked Eiko's violet curls, until the girl calmed down enough to start telling the older one of all the exiting things she hadn't put in her letters, including every technical detail about airships 'father' had taught her.

* * *

"If ya enter t'e caboose one more time before I tell ya to, Zidane, I swear to t'e gods I will-"

He didn't have to stay long enough to hear, what - exactly - Ruby planned to do with him, to know he really shouldn't risk it. Therefore he hastily turned tail - literally - and headed towards the engine room - the only place she wouldn't follow him to– just in case he had actually annoyed her enough to give him a chase.

* * *

By the time he re-approached the deck of the Prima Vista II – a beautiful, steam powered reconstruction of the first one, although on a noticeable smaller scale – he perceived loud voices. As soon as he realized that they weren't directed at him, his curiosity flared up and he listened closer.

"... can't just abandon her! That bastard has kids who have kids older than her! Listen, we have to-"

"You listen to me now, boy," Baku's gruff voice interrupted the teen impatiently,"Tantalus won't interfere with this matter. If you're gonna do something, you better be ready to face the consequences."

"Hey Marcus," Zidane whispered as he joined the small group that had gathered outside the captain's quarters,"whats going on in there?"

"You remember Brunce and Lucille, right?"

The memory on the two Lindblum kids that had desperately tried to join Tantalus was fishy, but he nodded never the less.

"Well, Lucille's oldest brother just promised her to an old farmer with an army of kids who lost their mother a while back. Brunce wants to prevent that marriage from happening, but Boss won't hear any of it."

"She's fourteen for crying out loud!" Blank put in angrily.

"And has therefore been officially marriageable for the past two years." Marcus reasoned calmly, albeit he didn't seem to like the idea anymore than his bro.

"When it had been Ruby-" the redhead countered, imploringly trying to convince the older man of the necessity to act on this matter.

He knew neither Brunce nor he stood a chance against their boss in a one-on-one match, which would be inevitably should they decide to ignore his orders. The boy simply lacked the needed strength and combat experience, while Blank himself lacked the ability to predict this opponent's movements fast enough to gain the upper hand in a fight against the cat-man, who– despite his heavy and clumsy outward appearance – was an excellent fighter with a liking for unpredictable speed attacks.

Marcus on the other hand... If anyone could hope to be able to change Baku's mind, it was definitely Marcus.

"Ya know its not the same. Boss felt responsible for what happened to her. This," he nodded towards the door,"has nothing to do with us."

While Blank had to admit defeat – at least for the time being -, Zidane's mind wandered to Mikoto, who leaned with her arms on the ship's rail, intently watching the land below.

He joined her quietly, feeling the restlessness fade away, until it was only a small, soft reminder instead of a demanding need to stay active.

It had always been like this whenever he had been forced to stay put on an airship for a longer period of time. This behavior constantly drove the entire crew - who had to watch him run around from dawn 'till dusk – crazy. And two and a half weeks sure were a long time to anyone.

He directed his eyes on the ground, but didn't focus on the things he'd seen a thousand times before. Instead he concentrated on his sister's mind to see what she saw in the same scenery. And was amazed to say the least.

Suddenly he didn't see lakes and rivers, he saw water sources; no hills but superior battle-field positions. There weren't simply 'woods', they all were sources for wood, sustenance and shelter. She memorized the landscape while comparing it with obviously out-dated maps and corrected these inside her mind.

More often than not Zidane saw images of Genomes flickering through her mind. On board of The Ship, in Oeil Vert, the Blackmage's Village, Bran Bal.

For the first time, he got a glimpse of Terra he hadn't expected to ever experience himself, for he loathed the parasitic planet and its keeper Garland, who had created him and others to be his puppets, to destroy all life on Gaia. But now, he perceive its artificial tower construction as comforting, the painful blue light as training and the old man as a reliable source of guidance.

Zidane shut his eyes tightly and shook his head vehemently as if I could help him to get rid of this particular mental picture.

* * *

"Boa! C'mere, that's the Evil Forest!" cried a boy to the left from where the siblings stood.

Zidane spotted two boys - who traveled with the orchestra - about three feet away, one of them leaning dangerously far over the railing. Sean and Conor – as the identical twins were called – counted about ten years and their surname – 'Rohan', which could roughly be translated as 'little red one' – suited the two strawberry blond, green eyed boys perfectly.

"Ha, ain't looking evil to me!" Sean – or Conor – declared daringly.

"Eejit! That's 'cause it got petrified." his brother lectured, clearly smug about knowing something his brother didn't.

"Amn't!" the second one protested loudly,"Are you trying to cod me?"

"See that guy?" the first one shook his head and pointed at Blank with a motion he surely intended to be stealthy,"He'd been right in there, fighting a Behemoth single-handedly!"

"Is that why he looks... like that?"

"Aye." a deep voice replied.

Wide eyed, the kids turned and found themselves in the shadow of the very man they'd just talked about.

"I-I'm feeling peckish. C'on Sean, let's grab somethin'." Conor – the storyteller – mumbled before dashing towards the caboose.

Blank chuckled as Zidane theatrically rolled his eyes.

Very few knew which circumstances had really been responsible for the gray-eyed's hoydenish appearance, but most people felt the need to come up with an explanation anyway, which lead to one story being more bloodcurdling and sinister than the other. Blank, however had never denied any of them. 'Too entertaining' he'd say.

At first, Zidane had thought his Tantalus-brother just had a pretty twisted sense of humor – maybe he did anyway -, but after he had had his fair share of 'tail jokes', he'd realized, that it was easier to handle this kind of stupid statements if you viewed them as nothing but a big joke.

"Ruby is gonna love her new company." Blank said jokingly.

"Totally," the blond man agreed dryly,"At least she has plenty of experience with chewing out up-to-no-good redheads."

Blank skillfully ignored the allusion by calmly reviving an earlier conversation with the blond girl next to him, who'd followed the spectacle heedfully.

* * *

Zidane just couldn't get it. He was very sure he recalled close to everything about Ruby, as long as it was connected to other people, like the way her and Blank used to act rather confrontationally around each other, or how the boss would always tread her like a little princess. But whenever he really tried to think about how he'd met her, something seemed to block his memory.

"Castle ho!"

"The castle?" instantly forgetting his line of thoughts, Zidane climbed the main mast at a breakneck pace and stared at a little dark speck between himself and the advancing sunset. But there was no doubt that they were heading dead on for Alexandria's capital Castle Town.

The humongous sword that had been build into the castle's center reflected the red sun beams warningly.

"_I'm finally here, Dagger. Just a few more hours before you'll know __that, too."_

* * *

As they turned the corner to the royal quarters, Garnet spotted two figures joking freely in front of her chamber doors.

One of them was a young chamber maid of twelve years. Garnet recalled Beatrix telling her of the girl's request to be accepted as a knight's attendant into her ranks. She'd been refused due to her rather poor physical condition – one that had become all too common among the war-battered Alexandrian orphans – but had given her a position among the castle staff.

The second was a blond lad about the same age, who the queen recognized as one of the Lairén Family's messengers due to their heraldic device stitched to his chest. A wing spreading crow.

Both children visibly baled as they came face to face with their ruler and her heavily armed General – who's narrowed eye looked dangerously at them.

The dark haired maid Leila bowed hastily.

Before the boy could even start to state his business – obviously deeply intimidated by the General's 'Save the Queen' – Garnet stepped forward and indicated Beatrix to move on to the next room.

Inside, she accepted the manilla envelope the boy carried, along with two intertwined, thornless roses.

One red, one white.

Love at first sight. Unity.

A marriage proposal.

"Tell Lord Lairén to await my answer after tonight's play. You may leave."

He bowed deeply and backed out of the room, obviously glad he didn't have to explain an outright refusal to his master. He wasn't entirely if his master believed in "Don't shoot the messenger".

* * *

"My Queen," Beatrix said softly, stepping closer to the young woman by the window, who watched the newly arrived Prima Vista's crew finishing their last preparations for the upcoming event with a sad expression.

Garnet knew what she was looking for: A sign, only a tiny glance of a blond shock of hair, scurrying around below. She knew she was waiting for something that would never happen.

"You do not have to do this, not now. You are only nineteen, there is still time."

Garnet turned her head as she felt a tender hand on her shoulder.

"There is still hope." the older woman added in a gentle whisper.

The younger one shook her head.

"No Beatrix, there is neither. You may say 'only nineteen' but all I hear from the nobles is 'already nineteen'." She sighed. "Mother got married at sixteen," another heavy sigh,"and when she was my age, she already carried Alexandria's first heir."

Beatrix stayed silent. She knew the next point on the list, and she knew her Queen was right, but that didn't mean she approved of it.

"My people are afraid of a succession-conflict or even a civil war, should I pass away without having provided an heir. They shouldn't have to. They suffered enough already."

"But, I am sure you know he does not..." the general began, hoping to sway her ruler from making a decision to please the constantly clamor nobles instead of herself, even if she would clearly overstep her authorities.

Garnet pressed her lips tightly together before she answered in an unnatural stiff tone.

"Love me? I am well aware of this particular fact, thank you very much for pointing it out. Love belongs in fairy-tales. My fairytale ends when the curtains fall tonight." she tightened her grip on the letter to prevent her hands from shaking.

She couldn't bring herself to tell the woman face to face, for she knew Beatrix cared for her and would see straight through her mask of uncompromising devotion, but she had been selfish by evading reality for too long. She had to think about her people.

"Zid... he..." she took a deep, shaky breath, trying to swallow the lump building up in her throat.

"Zidane... died... doing what he felt was the right action to take, now its my turn emulate his deeds. Therefore," a silent tear run down her cheek and landed on the swatted blossoms,"I will accept Lord Lairén's proposal and announce my decision tonight."

* * *

A few things about this chapter:

"**Venus Verticordia"**: a Venus cult of the 'changer of the female heart to discipline and morals'

Victor **Hugo** is the creator of the quote I humbly used as "Lord Hugo's 'Kissed by Dawn'" (yeah, that one actually is mine^^)

**Age 12 **(for girls, 14 for boys) had been the legal age for people to get married in the medieval times

**Flower language**: very interesting subject, indeed. A red and white rode stand for unity, when they're thornless its a sign for 'Love at first sight'.

Anything I forgot? Just tell me ^^

* * *

I cherish every single review like a newborn puppy!

* * *

**PS:** maybe a little inducement for **you** to review: since we all know Dagger is gonna do what she did in the final FMV, how would you reject a proposal using the language of flowers?


	11. The Play

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 10

* * *

**Author's note**

Wow, chapter ten already? And we're just about to hit the game's final fmv! Ô.o

Before you wonder: yep, this story _does _have a point to it, we just aren't there yet ^.^"

This chapter's song is 'Hanging by a moment' by Lifehouse

Dedicated to: Clement Rage ('with an oglop' loved it ^_^)

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

_To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing._

_

* * *

_

Adelbert Steiner, head of the Knights of Pluto, had been so very proud of the increase in discipline his men had shown as of late, but still 'some' of them didn't seem to take their duties as seriously as they should.

His men were mostly third or fourth sons of landed gentry families who couldn't afford to split their lands between too many sons. For most of them, it was a choice between living in a temple or serving in the military. At least the later offered them the chance to gain a title along with some land, maybe find a girl and to lead their own lives.

Nearing the main staircase, he was so preoccupied by his thoughts, that he didn't see the young man coming down said stairs. They almost collided as they were both caught in the dead angle the life sized statue of Alexandria's late Queen Brahne.

While Steiner' armor came to a clattering hold, the man – obviously a noble, according to his fancy wardrobe – avoided a hard sit down on the gray stone only thanks to his exceptional fast and precise reflexes.

"I beg your pardon for my heedless behavior." the knight bowed about as deeply as his armor allowed, which wasn't all too impressive.

"No need to apologize, Captain. No harm done." the noble said in an oily yet friendly tone.

As Steiner straitened up again, he recognized the queen's most persistent suitor. All of a sudden he didn't feel sorry at all. In case the noble had missed the change in the older man's facial expression, he didn't hint at it.

"This statue is placed most inconveniently." he stated with a genuine frown,"I will have it removed soon. Good evening." With that, the young man left at an easy pace, humming a joyous tune as he went. The world was a great place to be.

'I will have it removed'? The words echoed in his head. That was nonsense! No one but the royal family had the authority for such an order! Maybe if he'd be a Prince Consort, but this title would never belong to him unless...

Unless...

"She wouldn't!"

For a moment, Steiner was startled by his own voice echoing loudly through the entry hall.

"Calm down, Adelbert," he told himself silently, "This does not have to be as it looks. Beatrix will know, I'm sure of it!"

* * *

"Zidane, whats Tantalus' most important rule?"

"'A Tantalus always gets what he sets his eyes on!'."

"Nah, that's number two, first one is still 'I'm yer boss, yer'll do as I say!'," Baku's loud voice resounded in the small cabin and his roaring laughter hurt the young man's tender eardrums.

"Either way, since this is gonna be yer last one, I expect to see a splendid performance tonight, did I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, Boss!" he grinned up to the man he considered as something between a father and mentor.

"Good, now hurry up and make yerself useful!"

"Aye!"

* * *

"...and from up there... Oy, Benero, move that block closer to the others or the whole construction'll get unstable!" Blank gestured wildly to get his point across in the massive chaos of voices.

"Anyway, they'll throw down smoke-potions and stuff to create special effects." he finished his explanation to Mikoto, who'd shown great interest in the many trap doors, hidden switches and mechanics the crew used to add pizazz to their plays.

"Hey, Blank!"

The pair turned as Ruby ran up to them.

"I've been lookin' for ya all over the place! Brought yer costume for da play." she announced, pressing a bundle of leather strips into his arms.

Mikoto frowned slightly. That couldn't be the entire costume.

Right?

As on cue, the man answered her unspoken question with a quick shrug and an inexpressive expression.

"Uhm, darlin', would yer mind handin' out t'e last costumes?" Ruby asked as she turned to the young blond,"I'll hav'ta do his make up."

Mikoto nodded and left without another word.

"Remind me to get it stitched in on one of these days." he said as he watched the girl make her way though the chaos of blankets, wooden beams and tools that were scattered all over the would-be stage.

"Yeah, like yer hav'n't said t'at a dozen times 'fore." the blue haired woman laughed.

* * *

Mikoto entered the small room that had served her and Ruby as sleeping chamber. It as quite small and – like the costume stock in Lindblum – stuffed with costumes from top to bottom. The costume piles for each actor lay neatly folded and labeled on a big sturdy table near the door.

Her and Ruby had spent days to stitch each whole and every tear. It had given them a lot of time for what Ruby called 'Gal talk'. Actually it had been more a matter of the older one talking in her loud and direct fashion and the blond quietly listening. Sometimes female musicians - a silly and constantly nattering bunch - had joined them while doing their own chores.

The Genome had to admit that it had been an interesting experience. Over the months she had gotten used to Zidane's talkativeness, but talking to the other women had somehow felt differently, but just as nice.

As she picked up the last two piles, she noticed they were almost identical. Once she'd found the still grim looking Brunce in the engine room inside the ship's belly, she went back to the main level where she could feel her brother's presence. She found him close to where she had left Blank and Ruby.

Just like the women had used the costume storage rooms, the men had camped on the large plain that would serve as a stage as soon as the airship's mechanics lifted parts of the deck above. At the moment Zidane was gathering the last scattered blankets.

As she neared him, she could hear him hum an all too familiar melody. It was the Summoner's song again.

"Ruby asked me to give this to you." she stated calmly as she offered him the pile.

Zidane stared at it uncomprehendingly at first, then grinned.

"My old costume!"

Joyously he snatched the package from her hand and observed it. Of course, this one was a spare, since Mikoto had discarded the pitiful tattered remains of the original. Tantalus' costumes were designed mostly for endurance and as much free scope as possible. He snickered as he thought about the gang's grumbling as they had lost close to every costume back in the Evil Forest and were stuck in their costumes even longer since they'd taken all fitting costumes from the Lindblum costume stock with them. The only things left had been Ruby's dresses.

'Wearing these customs is still better than wearing a dress!' Blank had declared, and since he seriously had had the worst costume, no one had changed out of their own.

Another badly concealed chuckle escaped his lips as he suddenly saw a mental picture of a red haired boy in a baby blue dress in front of his eyes.

"An amusing memory?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna show you later."

He was answered by a shrug of her shoulders, but the tiny curve of her lips told him that she actually enjoyed their little sessions.

* * *

"Are you done changing?"

"A-almost." He put the tip his tail in the hole on the back of his pants and gave it a painful tuck. The Terrans were smart, wearing skirts and all, but for him, it felt just too wrong to be considered outside of Oeil Vert.

Mikoto stood with her back to him, waiting.

She was humoring him, of course. Her anatomic knowledge surely surpassed his by miles, but she was still his baby sister and he refused vehemently to undress in front of her.

He watched the part of her tail that peeped out under her dress swing slowly from side to side. It suddenly fidgeted sharply as a big dust bunny attached itself to the tip.

"All done!" He picked up the dust ball from the ground and blew it into her face banteringly.

How it eventually ended up in his mouth, he didn't know, but surrendered all the same.

* * *

"… and our rooftop viewers, Tantalus proudly presents 'I Want to Be Your Canary'!"

Garnet smiled as Baku left the stage. She remembered her confusion when he'd welcomed the 'rooftop viewers' three years ago, how silly she'd been.

During their journey Vivi had once told her how he'd ended up with a fake ticket but had still been able to see the show. Tonight he was seated on an honorary seat in the front row with his companions. But she hadn't forgotten about the people on the roofs. This time, all the guards had orders to tolerate the illegitimate spectators. Even Steiner had shown his approval.

But Baku, he'd known about it even before she had had time to sent him a massage and sent his men out to put a couple of spare blankets on the closest roofs. She wondered if there were any secret in her kingdom – and others – he had no knowledge of.

"'Tis foolishness! If all were so easy, why, none would suffer in this world!"

Waking from the daze her thoughts had lulled her into, she recalled those lines instantly. Garnet hadn't realized how much she had missed of the play while thinking of the past.

Her eyes focused on the stage again, where the fight against King Leo had just ended. For a blissful second, her mind blended the scene with a dim memory of 'his' performance years ago. But the renewed sound of the unknown actor's voice – who even wore the same clothes Zidane had on their journey - forced her back into reality.

And it hurt.

This time Blank engaged an unfamiliar dark haired actor in the mandatory sword fight between the peace longing traitor and Marcus' loyal friend. Obviously enjoying themselves, the pair took full advantage of the lax security measures and chased fleet footed though the audience's ranks.

Before she knew what was happening, the red haired man, sword dangling loosely against his thigh, stood right in front of her.

On the railing of her balcony.

Right under the nose of her bodyguards.

Being nonchalance itself.

He bowed courtly to her as he waited for his companion – a gangly boy of about fifteenth years – to catch up to him, only to hop right back into the crowd below, winking at her as he went.

She stared after him, utterly perplexed.

What had that been about?

* * *

He found the siblings backstage with the remaining actors, watching the performance up close.

"Hey man," Zidane smirked as he greeted his friend," you're lucky to be alive, ya know that? I thought Rusty'd kill you on the spot for that stunt."

"Aaah, he's all bark but no bite!" Blank grinned back, excitement still evident in his flushed cheeks.

"Now, tell me!" the blond man urged him.

"Hm, she looked tired. But even prettier than the last time I met her," his grin widened as he felt his friend glare at him,"too bad she isn't my type, ain't it?"

"Indeed."

"Well, all jokes aside, isn't it about time for you to get ready?"

"We won't switch until your favorite scene." Zidane answered in a prefect imitation of Marcus' deep voice.

Mikoto looked at them questioningly. It actually surprised Zidane that she hadn't simply asked him mentally, but he saw it as a sign of her improved social skills.

"That's the scene I getta die."the redhead answered matter of factly,"The first character who dies onstage, followed by pretty much everyone else."

He smiled at her and winked,"If we'll get to that point tonight."

* * *

"As the sun lends me no ear, I pray instead to the twin moons! I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish!" heart racing erratically inside his ribcage, Zidane dropped Marcus' voice along with the black cloak that had obscured his appearance and turned towards the very reason he had come this far,"Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"

One of the light technicians had thrown a spotlight on the young queen, allowing Zidane a glance at her shocked face, before she hastily turned towards the balcony's doors.

As she turned, so did he.

* * *

"_Calm yourself, she is coming._" Mikoto reassured him quietly as he waited anxiously in front of the theater ship.

And she she was right.

At first he couldn't see her, then his eyes caught a shimmer in the hesitatingly parting crowd.

The stage lights reflecting on her crown, maybe?

"Right, she's a queen now." this thought dimmed his euphoria and created a tight knot in his stomach. Had he done the right thing by coming here?

Before his mind could dwell further in all the dark 'what if's, Mikoto – who apparently had found a more convenient observation point – allowed him an overall view over the mob.

Some small part of his brain took notice of all the familiar faces he had met on his journey, his friends. But apart from that, his whole concentration lay on the brunet.

Seeing though two pair of eyes, he felt his heart drop into the tip of his toes as she stopped in her tracks and turned.

"No!" His mind desperately reached for hers. Instantly he declared himself a fool, for the act had become so natural over time that he had forgotten its limitations.

But, by chance or miracle, Garnet turned again and hurried towards the theater ship.

The moment she broke free of the lines of spectators, his personal sun rose.

"How cliché." he chuckled.

Then, she did the most unsuspected thing possible: Queen Garnet Till Alexandros XVII throw her crown to the ground. (Years later she still wouldn't fully grasp how much this rush act meant to him.)

Overjoyed, he caught her slim form midair and swung her around, savoring the feeling of her warm body against his.

There she was.

His Dagger.

Not the queen of Alexandria, just Dagger.

Over the past months he had learned to connect his mind with others of his kind, to share emotions and to relive memories long forgotten. But by loosing himself in his beloved's eyes, he saw even more than any mind-link would have been able to show him.

Her soul.

Her fears and dreams, the hardships she had faced, they all lay before him. His heart ached with every tear she shed.

For the time being, he couldn't offer her anything but a guilty smile. The urge to fall to his knees and to beg her for forgiveness was omnipresent. But this wasn't what she needed. He swore himself to be whatever she wanted him to even if she needed a punching bag – he'd be glad to be there.

"I knew it was you." she murmured between heart splitting sobs. He couldn't give her an answer right away, and therefore simply stroked her silky hair soothingly.

How long it had gotten...

"I thought I'd lost you..." she breathed into his shoulder before her legs failed her completely, his strong arms the only thing that kept her feed securely on the ground and realization hit her.

Her hero was back.

The fairytale continued.

* * *

Yeah, I'm late again... I smashed my glasses a few days back and well, I'm pretty blind without them (the letters on the screen are huge! O.O") I won't have them back 'till the weekend *sniff*

But don't worry, I'll still be able to read your lovely reviews ^_^

PS: hm, I'm not exactly happy with this chapter... any suggestions how to improve things?


	12. Substitute

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 11

* * *

**Author's note**

Huhu^.^ welcome to the second arc of As an Ending!

The basics are pretty much set, but don't you worry, I still have a thick notebook full of ideas^^

Thanks to my loyal reviewers Clement Rage and Kyubi-Emz-Chan (what would I do without you?)

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_"Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work."_

H. L. Hunt

* * *

"Inconceivable...outrageous... madness... impudence!"

Lord de Lairén watched calmly from his armchair as his heir strode across the room like a caged tiger, hissing and fussing as he made his rounds. After a while the noble became inpatient.

"Nathan, refrain from pacing this instant, you're giving me a headache!"

The young man stopped, visibly frustrated and slumped into another heavily padded settle.

"I was close, **this** close..." he held his thumb and forefinger mere milometers apart,"The maid confirmed it!"

"It doesn't matter what the servant said. This is the queen we speak about, and she may do as she pleases." the man said in a deep, rhythmical voice, ignoring the wintery glare he received for his words.

"But didn't you see...?" the younger man argued vehemently, pointing out of the guest room's window towards the court yard.

"What was there to see?"

Nathan looked at him in disbelieve. His mouth opened and closed without producing a sound.

"I don't know what you saw, but I observed how our beloved queen – churned by today's events – neglected her duties and openly displayed a scandalous inclination to an unknown man, who is obviously of a low birth. I am sure the other nobles will love it just as much as you do." he added with dry sarcasm as he leisurely rose to his feet.

"As for now, I'll sent my best men to find information that will bring some light to the mystery that is 'Zidane Tribal'." He scribbled a quick note on a piece of paper.

"'Zidane Tribal', hm?"

Nathan's tone let the white haired man look up and a shudder of anticipation run down his spine. As spoiled and narcissistic the boy could be at times, his quick and clever thinking earned his keep.

The old man saw a familiar fire blazing in the youngster's amethyst eyes as a calm, almost teasing smile played on his lips.

"Send them to Lindblum, the Prima Vista's hailing port. There will be no need for any information older then six years."

Lord de Lairén frowned slightly, but added the statement to the note, rolled it tightly, and handed it to the young man who'd stepped closer to a small, covered cage, which stood on a low table in the room's corner.

"Tempest, come here ma boy," Nathan beckoned the small bird inside to come out.

It was about six inches total, with a white belly, and exceptional red feathers under his silver beak, chest and legs. He raised his black wings in elation for his master's attention. Intelligent eyes, pronounced by a pitch black streak on each side of the bird's head, viewed the little package of parchment being tied to his leg.

Silently the falcon took off into the mild spring night

"Make haste, my loyal companion."

* * *

"Ehm... s-sweet Marcus... I fear to... oh... I love you... **thee** more than I should!" the boy gripped the script harder as his frustration grew, trying to brand the words into his memory. The small snickering noises coming from behind didn't help one bit.

But he was an actor and when Boss said 'yer'r a lovelorn princess' – you are a lovelorn princess.

If you dare to argue, well, than you're gonna be a lovelorn princess with a spanked bottom.

End of story.

Of course, the boss also knew a couple of other methods to 'motivate' his boys. One of them was to order an individual dress-rehearsal and take away your clothes, which you aren't allowed to change back into, until you know the lines by heart. This was the exact situation Blank found himself in. The ruffling noises of the baby blue skirts were an unwelcome reminder of that.

He sighed.

They had left Lindblum a while ago and were now in a busy, yet small harbor town, somewhere between the regency and nowhere.

At least the small inn provided passable meals and private rooms. They were all relatively spacious with two straw filled beds, all except for this one. It was tiny with a single cot. Since Zidane wasn't a proper member of Tantalus – due to his ongoing illiteracy – and therefore still considered Blank's liability, he continuously shared his bed, cloths and everything.

The only improvement was that Boss had taken a liking to the blond's talents whenever it came to pick-pocketing. The boy was – to give the devil his due – quicker, silenter and more persistent than anyone else in Tantalus, which was a great achievement to say the least. Therefore he got his own food now, much to both boys delight, since a single one was more than unsuited to sustain two growing kids.

" Where was I...?" he muttered,"here... Pretty... call me 'princess' no more!"

Another fit of giggles interrupted him again.

The redhead turned – noticeably miffed – towards the small boy who lay prone on the wood flooring, feed waggling in the air. Next to him lay his sand colored tail, twitching lazily as the blond child entertained himself with a wooden spinning top as well s the older one's performance.

"What's so darn funny?" With his hands on his hips, the twelve year old looked more feminine than ever, which earned him another round of laughter.

"So, you think you can do better, hm?"

The young boy – who had rolled on the floor with laughter – stopped all movement for a moment, utterly taken by surprise. He jumped on his feed in a fluid motion and displayed a nonchalant grin. Only the way his tail swung jumpily up 'n' down and right to left told Blank – who had gotten very good at reading the youngster's otherwise hidden emotions in the three years since he'd fished him out of the harbor. This particular swing-pattern marked a great deal of excitement.

"No, I don't think so. I know it." he chirped before accepting the senior's mock invitation to take the non existing stage.

"**Prithee**," he looked pointedly at Blank as he picked up a broom to address his lines to," call me 'princess' no more! Marcus, wilt thou truly cherish me, the king's only daughter?"

"Or is such a desire too dear to wish for!" the young boy's voice pitched up a little, sounding more and more girlish, as round turquoise pools begged broom-Marcus for the right answer,"After our nuptials, shall I become no more than a puppet? A mindless puppet, never to laugh, never to cry?"

"_Dang! Kid nailed the scene head on!_" he thought in amazement, silently wondering if he had really practiced this particular scene often enough for the nestling to memorize all of it.

* * *

"Oy, Blank, damn it!" Baku interrupted the rehearsal testily,"This," he pointed to the ebony haired teen in front of the boy,"is yer lover, boy. The one person ya can't live without!"

"Right, Boss." the one-eyed boy replied through gritted teeth, as Nath – who stood with his back to their leader - made sick little kissing noises. The preteen balled his fists in an attempt to calm his temper. It wouldn't do him any good to lash out at this malicious smirking son of a -

"Again, from 'Sweet Marcus', action!"

Here he was, croakingly declaring his undying love to his sworn enemy.

This couldn't get any worse, right?

* * *

Wrong.

The morning of the premiere day started with bad news. Very bad news.

It was one of these rare times when Baku regretted to have an all-male acting group. But it couldn't be helped for it was oafish to believe – even for a second – that having one or two women with them would be beneficial to the crew's chime. Oh no, he'd seen it all before.

At the time being, he had no more than a single actor, who's voice hadn't broken yet, to play the female lead. Playing without a backup was always risky, but he knew the kid could pull it off.

Too bad, that said boy wouldn't be able to play.

Baku looked down at the sick boy. The fever wasn't the problem. It wasn't that high and he knew from experience that the lad was tougher that that, but the voice...

"S'ry, Boss." mumbled the boy, fidgeting with the thick wool-scarf around his neck.

Baku sighed. Not even two feet separated him from the red head, but his voice barely made it to his ears.

"Nah, don't fret about it. I'll think of... somethin'."

Although he had no idea how to fix the problem. He couldn't hire someone to play the role for no one was able to learn a lead's lines in half a day.

Refunding a sold-out premiere was peanuts compared to the job they covered up with the play.

An outsider could cost them their heads.

* * *

As Blank closed the door, he found Nath pursuing his favorite activity: picking on someone weaker and/or smaller than him.

"Pick on someone your own size!" he wanted to shout, but it still didn't reach past a quiet whisper.

"Like who, shorty?" his violet eyes promised violence.

Sadly, he was right. Nath was little over a year older than him, but his growth spurts in the last couple of months had been mighty.

Not feeling in the mood for yet another fight, Blank grabbed Zidane – Nath's favorite victim next to him, who also looked more than relieved at the friendly kidnapping – and dragged him towards a small bed room.

This might be the solution for all their troubles.

"Stay put."

Puzzled, he did as he was told and sat on the nearest bed.

* * *

Marcus watched calmly as his boss started pacing again.

This was hopeless! All their careful preparations were useless because of something as unthinkable as a worst-case sore throat.

The door opened jonly far enough for the boy to put his head into the room.

"What is it now?" Baku snarled at Blank.

They weren't able to discern what he wanted to tell them, for his voice had done anything but improving. Irritated the child pointed at Marcus and then behind himself.

"Whatever." the man uttered gruffly,"Make it short, Marcus." he nodded his right-hand-man to go with the boy.

Marcus nodded and left.

"Wow kiddo, you're dead on yer feet!"

Blank answered with a 'tell me about it' expression and stumbling lead the way back to the small room.

* * *

It was hard to tell who looked more doubtfully, Marcus or Zidane, as they finally figured out Blank's plan.

"So, you seriously believe Zidane would be able to play Cornelia? Tonight!" as the skepticism dripped from his words, Marcus looked at the blond apologetic. It wasn't so much that he thought Zidane was stupid – in fact he was quite smart for a nine year old – but he had never played a speaking role in his life, much less the lead!

A hand gesture, that clearly meant 'Come on!' swayed him to at least listen to the little boy. What was there to loose?

Satisfied, Blank turned to his protégé, only to find him staring at him in disbelieve.

This kid had a long way to go when it came to ad-libbing.

Quickly, he grabbed a broom from the corner and turned him to face the wall opposite their audience and smiled at him reassuringly.

While Marcus raised an eyebrow at the little nonverbal pep-talk, Blank sat down on the bed with a sigh of contentedness. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't fight the weights that pulled his eyes shut.

* * *

"So, what happened next?" Mikoto asked.

Was that excitement in her tone? Zidane grinned from the memory as well as the fact that hanging around 'normal' people seemed to have had a positive influence on his little sister.

"Marcus had been astonished and talked Boss into the idea, until he believed it had been his own from the very start!" he laughed wholeheartedly. This had been great times.

"Blank missed all of it, but at least he could talk when he woke up. I think I gave him quite a start when I started to tell him eeeeeevery detail of the show, people's reactions and the way Nath's eyes tried – and failed – to bite me!"

"Is that why he left?"

"Left? Nath?"

"Yes, he was neither on board of the Prima Vista II with us, nor – according to your memories – had he been there three years ago. Therefore," concluded Mikoto,"he must have left some time before that."

"You're right," Zidane thought hard now,"... something … happened... but I don't remember what it was..."

Before he could think about it some more, he felt his sister stiffen beside him. By the time he opened his eyes, she had already risen to her feet and bowed gracefully to the queen.

He smiled at Dagger. Without any kind of formalities, he went to her and hugged her lovingly.

She looked tired, but the soft pink color that touched her cheeks as she felt him so close to her, seemed to sweep all her worries away.

At least for the time being.

* * *

Nathan's Tempest is a 'Microhierax caerulescens' (picture: see profile)

Jep, I have lots and lots of fun writing this little Tantalus moments^_^

BTW: I just finished "Suddenly Shakespeare" which – as the author put it – is 'remarkable historical-unfunded' but the most hilarious piece of literature I've ever laid my eyes on ^_^ I read it on the train and the stares people give you for laughing out loud in public... _pretty_ terrifying I can tell ya!*drop*

* * *

_**Reviews please!^.^**_


	13. Reunion

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 12 Reunion

* * *

**Author's note**

Huhu^.^

Wow, I need vacation!

I apologize in advance for the shortness of this chapter *bows*

Right know I have a lot to do with taking the last finals and having to write long letters in order to prove to the judges that my "loving father" has no right to sue me (he wants to stop my child-support – long, complicated story; didn't want to/hasn't seen me for the last 8 ½ half years - he had tried - and failed - to sue me into seeing him more often several years back)

Dedicated to Kyubi-Emz-Chan who is sometimes to lazy to log-in - but never forgets to review!

Welcome Fruity-Fruit-Cups ^.^ glad you liked it!

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

"_Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven._"

T. Edwards

* * *

"Sometimes I wish I could just stuff them all into a sack and..." the raven haired queen muttered sourly as she closed – or rather slammed - the doors that separated the conference room from her personal wing. How she wished she could tell them exactly how much they all owned Zidane for willingly saving, not just Alexandria, but all of Gaia, including the lives of this stuck up, ever nagging nobles!

_Calm down Garnet, breath nice and slowly_, she told herself again and again.

Over the years she had had to realize that an unmarried queen was just as much treated like a plaything of people's expectations and wishes as a young princess. To think that she had almost given in into a marriage of convenience... Now she shuddered by the mere thought of it – even if she didn't hold a grudge against her suitor, for he was as much a slave of another's will as she had been.

However, _his_ return had changed who she had let herself become. She didn't want to be a plaything anymore. So today - probably for the first time – she had openly, yet carefully stud up against the posse of old men that had obviously forgotten who was ruling the kingdom.

The truth was, that despite of being angry at the insolent questions they had voiced, things they had no right to be involved in, she felt sad and confused, because she didn't even have an answer for herself.

How long would he stay in Alexandria?

She didn't know. In fact she had been to afraid to ask him yet.

What was he to her?

This time she know the answer. It was as simple as it was selfish: Everything.

'Love is never selfish, for both partners sacrifice in order to gain something even more precious.' Doctor Tod had read to her when she was but a small child.

How was that possible?

She could see herself as Dagger, a young mother of two beautiful gold-haired children, living in a small town in a little house that felt immediately like home. By sunset they would all sit on the porch and listen to her free-spirited husband's adventures while roasting bread on sticks over a cozy fire.

She hung her head sadly.

This could never be. The responsibility she had been given – not by the pure chance of being born into a royal family, but by a fate, twisted to the point she couldn't even hope to comprehend in its complexity – was more than a single person had to be allowed to sacrifice.

Garnet's dark thoughts were interrupted by a low chuckle.

Puzzled she looked up and found herself on the threshold of a small sitting chamber. The door was off the latch and offered her a clear sight of the voice's origin.

Zidane leaned casually against the opposite wall, eyes closed. A pleased smile played on his lips. On the floor next to him sat Mikoto. Her eyes were closed as well. Even if she didn't smile, Garnet knew from the way her tail – which the blond had loosely curled around her ankle - jerked sporadically that she must, somehow, be partaker in whatever entertained the young man.

Too often she had seen him display this particular habit, whenever he was struggling to keep a strait face when she tried to have a somewhat normal conversation with someone outside their little travel-group.

Before Garnet was able to distinguish the source of their entertainment, the siblings started a conversation. At least that was what she thought since she couldn't make out any words or sentience structures. It was like nothing she'd never heard before. Their voices weren't 'there' enough, they were only vague sounds, like wind chimes hanging in a soft breeze.

One sounded like it was made from wood - creating a deep, mellow sound - and the other from silver, melodic and clear as a bell.

She kept listened in unconcealed fascination.

They were speaking Terran.

But her joy didn't last long for Mikoto stiffened. Immediately after she opened her eyes, the younger rose and displayed a bow as graceful as only Genomes seemed to be able to.

While the girl stayed in this motion, Zidane beamed at Dagger, crossed the space between them and embraced her lovingly.

Being near him always made her feel like she could handle everything and she relaxed gladly into his steady chest. Memories of the previous night – his return, their shared time in the gardens – managed to dip her cheeks into a brilliant pink.

* * *

This part of the gardens was untouched by the lights and sounds of the festivity inside the castle. The air was clear and fresh but not cold.

A skilled observer could have seen the two shadows drift along the well groomed sand path.

"What is it?" Zidane sat down next to her as they reached a small wrought iron bench and eyed her thoroughly.

"She lied to me. She told me you had died." Her voice sounded strained.

"I admit Mikoto has her quirks, but I know she wouldn't lie." His vindicative statement surprised the young queen greatly.

"'We found nothing at the Iifa Tree's remains and there will be nothing left to be found.'" Garnet recited the words that had hunted her every moment for the last months.

Zidane nodded in acknowledgment before he pressed his lips tightly together in a regretful fashion that usually went along with a bad conscience.

"When I spoke of quirks I wasn't kidding," Garnet could hear his tail thud against the metal in a nervous pattern,"She has this talent to give you something that sounds like a straight answer, but in truth it ain't, but its still true. I," he stared intensely at the space between them,"asked her not to tell anyone of my... return."

"Why wouldn't you want us to know you survived? We missed you! I thought you were..." she stared at him in shock, in utter disbelief, but his head was turned to the ground.

"I was, in a way." he still wouldn't meet her eyes, but she could see in his whole posture that it was difficult for him to admit.

A stressed silence fell between them.

Dagger understood that he'd eventually give her an answer – probably tonight if she pressed him further.

No, she wouldn't do that. He'd never forced an answer out of her, and it had meant a lot to her at the time.

Instead she used the time and the silver light the blue moon provided to take a closer look at him, even if she felt like she hadn't done anything else since he revealed himself mere hours ago.

He had changed.

It wasn't as much that he was slightly taller than before or that his face had lost the last bit of boyish roundness - which made him look even more charismatic in a resolute and virile way.

His whole aura had changed.

In front of her sat no adolescent boy with a carefree ignorance big enough to reach to the twin moons and back, but a respectable and responsible young man who had seen more in his two decades than most scholars in their entire lifetime.

While she studied his features, her eyes found the soft curves of his lips.

Her heart battered in her chest. All these nights she had lain awake in her bed and gave in to her thoughts, one of the many things she regretted was to have never told him how much he meant to her. She wouldn't have spoken of 'love' by the time they had said their farewells – even now she shied away from the very word.

The difference was that she wasn't as unsure about her own feelings as she was of his. Sure, he'd returned to her, but did this really mean he would stay? For the rest of his life? She just couldn't picture him living in a golden cage, filled with vultures less honest and by fare more greedy than the bandits he'd grown up with.

Another regret was that she'd never kissed him.

Garnet fondly remembered all the times his flirtatious nature had annoyed her to no end. After a while he had already started to change, which still hadn't lessened his advances on her by a long shot. But he'd began to used their little banters to lighten up the group's mood.

He was a joker, probably always had been.

He always managed to redirect their companion's attention to himself (especially Steiner's) which allowed them a few moments to escape their own troubles. It also helped to keep the daily quarrels – which came natural whenever colliding personalities lived as closely together as they had – at a minimum.

Zidane looked up with an expression she couldn't quite fathom at first. He looked... vulnerable. Garnet painfully remembered this look from their time on Terra, after he had learned about his true origins. She had sworn herself to never allow him to look like this ever again.

The best decisions are those people make without giving them too much thought.

A little unsure, Dagger slowly leaned closer to him. For a split-second Zidane was taken aback, unable to determine her intentions.

Carefully their lips met.

The kiss was very chaste but the sensation of his warm, smooth lips against hers was indescribable. Yet his stayed unresponsive and her former doubts overwhelmed her.

Had she done something wrong?

Wasn't this how it was supposed to be?

Had she unknowingly crossed an unspoken line?

She withdraw in the same moment Zidane came to turns that this – in contrast to all the kisses he had shared with her in his numerous daydreams – was real. His sweet, innocent Dagger was kissing him!

Hastily he followed her face and when their lips met again, he put all his love for her, his dreams and hopes, into a single, lingering kiss.

As an actor, he'd kissed lots of women - as well as the one or another man, whenever the role required it (but that was a different story all together). Of course not nearly as many as in his womanizing days which – thanks to the wonderful influence of his Tantalus brothers – mainly Blank – had started at a very tender age.

But this one... this one was special.

* * *

OOC much? Please let me know!

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**Reviews please! ^_^**


	14. Birds

**Content **

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 13

* * *

**Author's Note **

Hi there^_^

Seriously, you people rock!

4 (f-o-u-r!) reviews for a single chapter O.O just wow! Thanks a lot!

Welcome Shazzy! All in one night? Sounds like I did something right *smirk* But don't worry, this is far (echo: faaaaaaaaaaaar) from over! *muhaha*

BTW: My life is pretty up-side-down right now and updates might take longer for the next one or two months. But I'm not dropping the story, so stay tuned^_^

* * *

**Disclaimer **

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 13 **

God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages.

J. Deval

* * *

They stayed in the embrace for several minutes, until the young woman remembered that they were not alone.

She turned a brilliant shade of red as she looked at the blond girl apologetically and greeted her properly. Or as properly as possible since Zidane - who'd simply grinned at her halfhearted attempt to get free - refused to let go of his canary completely and casually wrapped his arm around her waist.

Mikoto displayed a small smile to put the visibly embarrassed queen at ease.

"I was on my way to the Knowledge Repository... I belief its called a 'library'?"

Garnet nodded, once again realizing how new and strange all this must be for the Terran. She was always so calm that this fact was easily overlooked.

"Leila will show you the way. Doctor Tot resides in the Guest Wing, you might be able find him in the library as well. And... If there is anything you need, feel free to sent one of the servants to get it for you."

"I will, thank you for your generous hospitality." she bowed her head dignified and left with Leila, who looked more intimidated by the forgein girl than by her mistress.

"How does 'lunch in the garden' sound to you?" asked the raven haired woman sweetly as the door closed behind the two girls.

"Just the two of us?" This sounded just to good to be true.

"Just the two of us."

"No guards?" his hopeful tone made her she giggle.

"No guards closer than shouting range."

Zidane pretended to think hard, considering whether this was an acceptable limitation or not. But the smile that tucked on the corners of his mouth gave him away.

"Ahhh, all right."

She beamed at him, before sending for two maids in order to get dressed in a more 'casual' attire.

* * *

To say her dress was nice would have been an understatement.

He simply loved it. At first he'd thought she wore her old orange outfit. The top half consisted of a white blouse that allowed a nice view of her cleavage, while the lacing hugged the fabric to her slender body. Then the top merged into a free flowing skirt that - in comparison to her formal dresses - ended halfway down her calf.

"I want to show you something." Dagger whispered in his ear, her breath tingling on his skin,"Please, close your eyes."

He complied, but Garnet didn't fail to notice how his muscles tensed or the way he turned his head to every sound around them.

_You could take a fighter out of the battle, but not the battle out of a fighter_, she thought with a proud smile. She took his hand forthwith and started to lead him deeper into the castle gounds.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Zidane asked again, in a fashion that was in no way inferior to Eiko's talent to be terrible annoying at times.

She shook her head at his whiny tone, well knowing he wouldn't be able to tell.

She grinned as they reached their destination and placed him under a tree, facing her, with his back the way they had just come.

"You may look now." She hoped her nervousness wasn't as obvious as she felt it to be. After her return she had used every free moment to create this place just for him, hoping he'd see it one day.

His eyes opened and looked at her in confusion while he got used to the bright sunlight. He turned as he heard the familiar movement of water against the shore, and the sweet smell of flowers.

He gasped.

Before him lay a beautiful sap-green meadow surrounded by trees. Their pink blossoms just started to open up to anyone who might see them, showering the scene with delicate petals and an inimitable delightful scent.

Cherry trees!

At least two dozen of them!

A six feet tall waterfall fed a small, crystal clear pond in the left corner. Somehow he knew that behind that natural stone wall lay Alexandria's Grand Lake, which left the city through a deep fall from the majestic Crystal Falls. They had reached the furthest end of the gardens.

"They won't be harvest-able for several moons, but I made some jam last year." Garnet said as she stepped next to him, putting a big basket on the ground.

He looked at her wide eyed, eyebrows raised dramatically.

"Hey!" she protested half irritated, half teasingly,"Don't look at me like that, I can cook."

"I didn't say anything!" he laughed and held his hands up in a pacifying pose,"I know you can, after all, you didn't scorch the water last time."

If anything, years of training had taught him one thing: 'this' was the perfect time to start running.

* * *

"You're sure, we shouldn't ask ol'Rusty to try it first?" Zidane eyed the dark red stuff she spread on the buttered bead askance.

They sat on a small blanket in the trees' shades near the water, enjoying the quiet afternoon alone.

Of course he knew her cooking skills had improved during their journey – which wasn't that hard, considering she'd never been taught in the first place. After all, a future Queen regent needed other skills.

He chuckled as he remembered how adorable Dagger had looked when she proudly presented her first self-made stew to him. She'd gone a little wild with the seasoning, but he'd had worse. After all, Tantalus was a bunch of criminals – not cooks.

"Will you hush? Here... open up." Zidane grinned at her slyly and followed her order willingly.

"Well,...?"

It really tasted great. The sweet-sour fruit pieces combined with the sugar... delicious. Nevertheless he was pleased that she seemed to have remembered that sugar was very expensive - and therefore rarely used excessively by common people - making the jam less sweet than some he'd tasted before.

"They don't call you 'Queen of Hearts' for nothing." he joked, reaching for another slice of bread, enjoying the effect his statement had on the color of her face.

"So, who taught you to make this?"

"Quina." He almost choked on his bread.

"Quina is here?"

"Quina refused to go back to Master Quale and asked to stay with the kitchen staff.

"Go figure!" he grinned.

The afternoon continued and they enjoyed their time together.

He watched how her long hair swayed graciously in the breeze, while she was apparently lost in the lazy movements of his tail.

"Will you promise me something?" she whispered thoughtfully.

"Anything." his tail didn't miss a beat in its lazy rhythm.

_Anything_, Dagger hesitated.

For a short moment, she was tempted to ask him to stay with her, but it would be just as wrong as to trap birds in a cage. Instead, she wanted him to be like the doves on her windowsill: free to go whereever the wind takes them and returning to her by choice.

"Do not let me forget who I truly am. Never."

He looked at her and she knew he understood.

He jumped to his feet easily and reached for her hand to pull her up as well.

She had expected him to take her into his strong arms, telling her everything would be fine. Instead, he tilted his head forwards and started fiddling with two hands behind his neck. His tongue clicked in annoyance.

"Gotcha!" he muttered triumphantly as he unhooked the clasp.

Zidane smiled at her expectantly as he held a filigree silver chain in front of her eyes. At its end dangled a circular, flat silver pendant about the size of her thumb-nail. On closer inspection she marveled at the delicate bas-reliefs. One was a fine braid decorating the rim. The one in the middle was a heart with wings. Behind it was a sword and several stumps in a circular formation – a steering wheel.

The emblem of Tantalus.

Of course she had seen the pendant before – Zidane had worn it on an old looking leather string during their journey - but never from this proximity. He'd once claimed it to be every Tantalus' greatest treasure.

Before she could muster a protest, he had already stepped closer to her and fastened the chain around her neck. The blond took a step back and admired his work.

The Pendant was 'wrong side up', allowing the 'right' people to recognize it, while others only saw a plain circle decorated by a delicate braid on the rim.

"There," he stepped closer - obviously pleased by his work - and pecked her nose,"this will remind you whenever I'm not around to do so."

Her heart dropped but she tried to cover her disappointment that his words caused with a smile.

"Unless you want me to attend the meeting after all." he tried to decipher what had suddenly darkened her mood.

"The meeting!" Garnet shrieked and tried to determine how low the sun had already sunken into the sky.

"Do you really think Steiner would allow you to miss any meeting because you are spending time with a 'scoundrel' like me?" he laughed somewhat bitterly.

She stopped her frantic search for the sun and frowned like she always did whenever she was confronted with injustice. "You know he doesn't see you like that anymore."

He shrugged. But it was still good to know who his allies were in this place.

They agreed to head back as the first dark clouds appeared on the far off horizon.

Shortly before they came in sight of the castle guards, the two slowed to a hold. Zidane encircled her slender waist with his arms and pecked her lips teasingly before pulling away. Dagger felt cheated. Instinctively her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him towards her.

This was a kiss to her liking, but it ended too early because she couldn't suppress her giggles any longer. His tail had - obviously unnoticed by its owner - snaked around her ankle and the soft tip had started to tickle her calf.

He looked at her questionably before his face adopted a sheepish expression as he removed the formerly unsupervised appendix. He busied himself by carefully fixing her hair which had become quite messy from the wind and was dotted by white and pink flower petals.

"See you later, ok?"

"Where are you going?"

"Ruby's. She said she'd had a few problems with some guests lately."

"I could sent some extra guards in the area..." the queen offered. The eccentric actress' theater and bar had become a well known location among the citizens and castle staff.

"That would eliminate her problem, but probably scare off her other guests as well." he winked at her,"Don't worry, we'll make sure they know exactly who they'll have to answer to if they continue to bother her."

Garnet had seen him fight uncountable battles but still tended to forget that he possessed a side he'd never shown her. She found it was very difficult to imagine him as a criminal.

* * *

"Oh, co'on, I know you work in your own pockets, missy." Disgusted, Ruby starred at the filthy mercenary - once again - had caused trouble among the guests and staff.

"Dont 'missy' me, mister! Am tellin' yer for da last time: stop gropin' my gals, or-"

"Or what, missy?"

"Is there a problem, Ruby?"

A well covered sigh of relief escaped her lips as the drunkard got shoved backwards by a big hand on his shoulder. The man turned and was confronted by three men. The first two - a frail looking blonde and a sassy carrot-top - didn't even have a chance to bother him, but the third, a bulky man with two pointed teeth... promised to be a worthy opponent in a brawl.

"The gentleman was about to go, maybe you boys would like to show him the way?"

"Sure thing. We wanted to have a little chat with him either way." the hulk's grin widened, effectively baring even more pointed teeth.

"He won't cause anymore problems." Zidane winked at Ruby before he followed them, tail jiggling in excitement.

Fighting monsters with a weapon was one thing; quick and easy. But using psychological warfare on someone who deserved it... he licked his lips in anticipation.

* * *

A small knock on the window glass attracted the young man's attention.

Amethyst orbs flashed in delight as they scanned the parchment's content. He smiled as the cage's doors snapped close.

This was good news indeed.

* * *

**Reviews please!**


	15. Commitment

**Content **

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 14

* * *

**Author's Note **

Hi there^_^

I kinda got stuck doing this chapter because I had to much fun writing parts of the next one XD

Thanks to my little Lazy Kyubi, Clement Rage and Fruity-Fruit-Cups \\(^o^)/ - me being happy

You all deserve lots of ice-cream, a pool, palm-trees,... what's your mailing address again?

Have fun^.^

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**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

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"_Commitment turns a promise into reality with words that speak boldly of your intentions and actions that speak louder than words._"

S. Brunkhorst

"_The relationship between commitment and doubt is by no means an antagonistic one. Commitment is healthiest when it is not without doubt but in spite of doubt._"

R. May

* * *

"Thank you, my dear." the woman said – truly appreciation the help – as she dabbed the sweat off her forehead with her apron.

At this time of the day, when the sun was at its highest, working in the small herbary was most effective. The forenoon sun had already dried off last night's dew and most of the plants' water supplies, making the drying process a lot easier and more effective. Usually she had no one to keep her company but about three weeks ago, she'd met this nice young lady.

At first she'd thought the young blond to be a new Lady-in-waiting due to her refined posture and quiet nature. But she possessed a refreshing curiosity for the things around her that other high-ranked workers lacked. Those girls tried to look sophisticated by imitating the bored and world-weary expressions that most noble women wore as of late.

Rumors among the servants – which she normally didn't pay to much attention to – had it, that she was the queen's lover's sister.

This talk could cost them their tongues if the right people knew about it. Questioning the Queen's chasteness was a crime considered close to treason. Melissa hadn't seen said man yet, but the description was in everyone's ear: blond, medium tall, long-tailed – yet human, fair framed and – apparently - always smiling. Their leader's continuing refusal to make an official statement regarding him, as well as his unknown background, caused the gossip factories across the whole kingdom to work overtime. The further away one traveled from the castle – and its keen-eared guards – the wilder the hearsay got.

Melissa shook her head which only caused several strands of gray hair to fall into her face. She puffed them away and carefully put another truss of herbs into her basket. From the corner of her eye she studied the young girl working next to her. You didn't find many youngsters interested in the old ways anymore, much less in higher classes. People now-a-days preferred to consult white mages and potion-makers, forgetting that all this 'instant remedies' were good for nothing except first aid and swallow cuts – if done right! More often than not those things caused more issues than they cured.

Footsteps could be heard as one of the servant girls – was is Leila? - approached them. She bowed and informed the elderly woman that the queen wished to speak to her. Nodding dutifully, Melissa hoped secretly that her audience wouldn't take too long or else the herbs might wilt and become useless.

As if reading her thoughts, Mikoto stepped next to her. "I could take the harvest to the tower and prepare them."

"That would be wonderful, that is very kind of you." she smiled and hurried away to get clean before following the queen's call. She had full confidence at the girl's abilities to hang up a few herds.

* * *

The inside of the castle was cool and felt almost cold to someone who had worked in the blazing sun all day. She hadn't been in this wing lately for her Majesty possessed an excellent health and there was no need for any advise regarding babies yet. The castle had been missing the chirpy sounds of children for a long time.

After being admitted into a nice sitting room with a grand view of the fountain, she didn't have to wait long before the queen joined her and kindly offered her a seat and tea.

Melissa looked the woman in front of her up and down, a habit of her's for the first impression usually told a lot about the patient's condition. Her hair was full and shiny, taint rosy, her brown eyes radian and her posture flawless yet effortless. A healthy young woman in her best child-bearing age.

She personally had helped to raise this child and was one of the few people who knew she wasn't part of the royal bloodline, but didn't think it mattered for she undeniably love the people of this country with all her heart.

With anger and helplessness she remembered the night she had started to nurse the poor girl back to health after the late king had instructed that butcher of a doctor to remove the horn that grew out of her head. It had filled her with pride as she'd heard that the ruler of Lindblum – her home town – had adopted a small girl with a horn just like that of the former princess and had refrained from committing such an act of cruelty. She'd never be able to forget the screams.

"I take it you have met Miss Tribal?" the queen asked pleasantly.

"Yes, I have." Melissa honored her ruler's request to not be too formal, renewing their old agreement from years ago,"A nice and diligent young lady."

Garnet smiled,"I'm glad feel that way, for I wanted to request a favor of you."

The older woman listen attentively and gestured her host to continue.

"I know you have not accepted any apprentices for many years, but maybe you'd do me the favor of considering her as a student?"

The herb-woman sipped on her tea cup as she thought about her answer. True, the blond's company was pleasant, but this was the way it had mostly started out. None of her apprentices had had the endurance and will to learn of all cures nature offered.

"Is she magically gifted?" Those were the worst students. She'd had a fair share of those: lighting the stove with magic and burning half a year's worth of work. Or being constandly moody because their parents had disagreed to sent them to a master of white magic.

"No." That was something she could work with.

"Did she ask you to speak to me?"

"No," Garnet smiled at the unlikelyness of such a behavior,"She is more than able to speak for herself. I thought about offering her this chance if she so chooses. That is, if you would be willing to teach her."

Melissa watched the last bit of tea in her cup before she looked up. "I will have to think about this, if you'll allow me to."

"Of course, that is all I'm asking for."

Before she left the room, the old healer glanced one last time at the tea-leafs on the bottom of her now empty cup.

"'Hard work will pay off', doesn't sound too bad." she mumbled as she closed the door behind herself.

* * *

"Thank you."

Garnet turned and smiled as she saw her beloved standing in the doorway.

"It was nothing, besides she hasn't agreed to it yet."

"Oh, I'm sure she will," he said as he bent curiously over the old lady's tea cup on the table, feeling his beloved's confused eyes on him,"A windmill can't be a bad omen – as long as its outside of Dali, I mean – right?"

* * *

Tap.

Garnet turned, trying to get back into a wonderful dream that had a big focus on her, Zidane, a cozy chimney fire,...

Tap.

There it was again. She groaned as she forced her heavy eye lids to open.

Tap-tap.

The noise increased in both, quantity and volume.

Sleepily, the young queen stood up and reached for the handle of the balcony door which lay hidden behind the free flowing curtain. An alert mind would have told her that a curtain wasn't wafting if the door behind it is was closed. Be as it may, she didn't have time to connect the proverbial dots.

Luckily, two swift hand caught her stumbling form by the shoulders before she could hurt herself.

Bewildered and startled she looked at the grinning face of her catcher.

"Zidane!" she she said not to quietly, although she sounded more relieved than angry,"What on Gaia are you doing here?"

His smile grew wider,"Trying not to startle you." Her look told him that she wasn't about to buy this, so he continued,"Well, I thought you'd probably be pretty upset if I appeared next to your bed in the middle of the night, right? Even if it would have been a great deal more delightful than standing out here." he eyed her thin, somewhat disheveled night grown meaningfully.

Garnet blushed and tried – unfortunately successfully – to readjust the fabric, earning a small pout from him as her pale shoulder vanished from plain sight.

"Aaaaaaaanyways," Zidane said as he made a great effort to bent his thoughts from what else was hidden beneath the cloth,"I came to kidnap you, again." he confessed theatrically,"I'll turn this noble queen into a simple maiden until the clock chimes two."

Garnet grinned,"What happened to 'until the clock strikes twelve'?"

"That's for starters, beside, do I look like an ugly old hag?"

She couldn't argue with that.

Smugly, he handed her a pile of cloths to change into while he promised to wait outside until she was ready.

"If you need help with the lacing," he offered helpfully as an after thought,"I'm known to do them perfectly in no time."

"I bet." she mumbled and added audio-able for him,"Thanks but no thanks."

"Anytime."

She rolled her eyes.

* * *

They had made it– miraculously unseen – out of the royal chambers and had left about half of the remaining way out of the castle behind them.

"Guards." Zidane whispered, pressing her next to him into the shadows.

Adrenalin rushed though her body as she heard approaching footsteps. It had been a long time since she'd had to hide from her own guards. The memories only served to increase her excitement further.

It was Steiner who apparently had caught a sleeping night-guard.

"Oh, no, he's gonna get on a tirade." her companion complained irritatedly.

"... it is our sworn duty as knights to..."

Dagger nodded, knowing Steiner this was just the tip of the ice-berg.

"... your behavior is unfit for the grand responsibility that comes with being part of the royal guard..."

"Let's get further north, there is a weak spot in the wall." He didn't even bother to whisper as his voice got drown out by the armored man anyway.

* * *

Freedom, sweet freedom.

Dagger giggled as they stepped out of a dark alley into the street. She'd grown up in this town, yet the twisting labyrinth of Alexandria were still frighteningly unfamiliar. Without her guide she'd have gotten lost first five minutes into their little 'break out'.

"Will you tell me now where we are going to?"

"Ruby's, where else?" he pointed towards a side street ahead of them, from where several people walked – more or less successfully – in the vague direction of the local inn. "Its Tantalus' last night in Alexandria."

As they came closer to the steps that lead down to the pub, they noticed a pair of grim looking door men at the stair's entrance.

"Ow, those guys aren't from around here. Can I borrow the necklace for a second?" Zidane pulled the hood of her dark cloak deeper into her face, just to be save.

"Ehm, sure." perplexed she handed him the chain with the small pendant.

"No entrance tonight, punk." the first beefcake bellowed harshly as they came closer.

"I'd like to differ." the bull's snarl rose goosebumps on her skin. Hastily she poked Zidane in the ribs and hoped he'd get the hint to stop further angering the bouncer. Apparently he did.

"Come on, let me in, I'm part of this."

"In this case", the second doorman put in smoothly,"you'll be able to tell us the code, right?"

"You're full of crap." his sudden outburst – along with the renewed provocation – actually made Garnet wince. He had always been - relatively – well mannered in her presence. She'd never witnessed this kind of conversation before and it made her realize how much he – along with everyone else – had sheltered her on their journey.

"Say the code!"

"There is no fucking code! Here." he held the necklace up to the men's faces, but made sure to keep it out of gripping-distance at the same time.

They grunted disappointedly but stepped aside without another word.

"Here," Zidane pressed the trinket into her palm as they reached the doors,"take good care of it, might get handy some day."

Upon entering the room, a thick fog of smoke greeted the pair, accompanied by the typical bar-stench of high-proof drinks and one to many people who'd had a long day of hard work.

The place was packed.

At least fifty men besieged the taproom with its small round tables and a medium sized stage in the back were several musicians prepared their instruments for another performance.

A couple of men turned to the new arrivals and Garnet had the terrible feeling their stares could see past her cloths. Zidane noticed her growing discomfort, lay one arm around her waist and pressed her close to him.

_Mine_.

Understanding the possessive gesture, the men turn their attention back to their conversations, cards or whatever else they'd been doing before.

"I could dress you in a potato bag and you'd still be the most beautiful girl far and wide." he whispered in the direction he assumed her ear to be. She blushed.

"Are," Dagger swallowed, trying to hide her shock,"are all of this men part of Tantalus?" Of course she'd already guessed that Tantalus was a little bigger than the few men she'd met before, but this... was an organization on a completely different level.

"No, Tantalus only has about, well I'd say thirty odd members, but most of them are what we call 'part-timers'. They have regular jobs – some even in high places -, family and stuff."

"Like Ruby?"

"Nah, Ruby is a special case, like always." he grinned at her in a way that told Garnet that Ruby had been Tantalus' Prima Donna for several years and he hadn't told her even half of it yet.

"Technically, she isn't a member of the gang. Boss took her in when she was about fourteen – you wouldn't believe how shy she'd been back then." she followed his glance as he watched his foster-sister flirt shamelessly with a young blond boy, who obviously hadn't realized yet that she was only playing with him.

"Anyway, she pretty much disapproves of everything we do off-stage. That's why Baku bought her the theater."

"That was very generous of him."

Zidane shrugged, obviously not seeing it as a big deal.

"And who are the others?" she asked, looking around.

"They belong to several other guilds who's masters own a favor or two to Baku. Sometimes we work for them, sometimes they work for us. Others - like the band for instance – come along for transportation."

"Are they also involved in... 'debatable' activities?"

He laughed at her attempt to make their illegal business sound less serious.

It was plain cute.

"Dunno, but its most likely. They don't bother us, we don't bother them."

"Howdy, darlin's."

Ruby greeted them enthusiastically. She'd obviously grown bored with the boy's advances and had decided to meet them before they had had the chance to cross the room even halfway.

"Wanna drink somethin'?"

"Geese wine. Two please."

Ruby laughed as she saw Garnet's shocked expression under the hood. Zidane noticed it as well and smiled.

"Relax, its just water. Cheech, you know I wouldn't do that."

Ruby served them the drinks and suddenly her eyes grew huge. Without explanation the grabbed Dagger by the arm, quickly said a 'Yer don' mind, do ya' to no one in particular and pulled the stunned girl into a quiet corner.

"Showmehshowmeh." Her accent apparently tended to get worse when she was excited.

When she only received a confused stare, Ruby said 'Do this.' and mimicked opening a cloak clasp around her neck.

She did.

"It looks good on ya." Ruby complimented her,"Naw, we're sisters." she announced secretively and gestured at the small round pendant that had been hidden behind another necklace.

"Does this mean..." Dagger wasn't able to end her sentence but she didn't have to.

"Nahnah, darlin' dis is only about him not pursuing other gals anymore. Ya haven't agreed to anythin'."

The brunett wasn't entirely sure if she liked this answer or not. She was glad it didn't mean what she'd first thought it might, but on the other hand she felt a tiny bit disappointed it didn't mean more.

"When did he give it to ya?"

"About two months ago." sixty four days ago to be precise, she thought but didn't share.

"Oh, is this uhm, Blank's?" she wasn't sure if this question was too daring. She'd always found it very difficult to determine those two's relationship. But, they were sisters now, right?

Ruby looked dumbfounded at the necklace and back up.

"No no, its Baku's." she said smiling.

"Oh." Dagger hadn't thought of that, but it made sense, in a way. Zidane had said Ruby had been fourteen when Baku took her in... well, this kind of age-gap wasn't unheard of all throughout society, but still...

"Yer have a dirty mind for someone who's grown up as sheltered as ya've." chided the blue haired woman teasingly, unable to watch the girl turn any paler.

Garnet blinked quizzically,"Pardon me?"

"Ya heard me." she grinned,"The pendant doesn't hav'ta be given t' a love-interest. But it ain't a casual thin' either, for each member only gets a single one of this babies." Ruby pointed at her pendant.

"Its kinda like an ID in our little world. You used it to come down here tonight, right?" the younger nodded,"Shows who's gonna back you up if it comes down to it. Allies will help ya, etcetera. Givin' it away means puttin' that person's life before all else."

* * *

"Ya'll think he's gonna propose to'er tonight?"

The first sunbeams crept through the misty streets and the tap room was empty except for the innermost circle of Tantalus.

"Probably." Blank tossed a coin into the air and caught it – seemingly nonchalantly – between the tips of his middle and index finger.

From the present, only Ruby knew it'd taken him months to learn this trick. He regularly displayed it in taverns on a regular basis as a distraction, bluffing a better eyesight than he really possessed.

"If he does it now or next week doesn't really matter, since any letter will arrive ahead of us anyway." Marcus reasoned, flipping his cards on the table.

Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten. All hearts.

Brunce sighed and shoved his remaining coins to Marcus. You just couldn't beat a Royal Flush.

* * *

So Ladies and Gentlemen I hope you liked it *bows*

Wow, its 3 am (again -.-") and as my tiny American host-cousin once said: "Me tired."

PS: Do you remember the quotes from the beginning of this chapter? (yes, you may scroll upwards) which one fits better in your opinion? It doesn't have to be a 'first/second one because blablabla' I liked them both so I kept them. I'm just being curious ^_^

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**Reviews please!**


	16. Guests

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 15 - Guests

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**Author's note**

Hi there ^.^

Oh, I had lots and lots of fun with this chapter – too much actually, because it ended up being more than 7000 words long! O.O

I decided to split it since I probably won't have much time to write this week (I'll look at several rooms in different shared apartments, wish me luck :3 )

Thanks to: Kyuuuby^.^ and Clement Rage

Dedicated to: Fruty-Fruit-Cups (because Quina said so ;D )

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**Disclaimer **

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

The early morning sun tickled the young queen's nose as it made its way into the quiet bedchamber.

The teen's raven hair lay sprawled out on her pillow like a fan, but she was still too far gone into the one part of the dreamworld – close to waking, but still asleep – where one could form the dreams, to notice.

In the dream she visited a memory that managed to give even her dream-self a tingling sensation in her stomach. She revisited the night that Zidane had taken her to Ruby's – and what an interesting visit it had been – almost a month ago.

* * *

She was tired, oh so tired.

"Wow, watch where you're going, darling."

She barely heard him but felt a sudden sensation of weightlessness before his arm slid under the back of her knees. Shouldn't she protest? This wasn't a proper position to be in, but oh well, who'd see them anyway? Plus he was warm and gentle and behind the biting stench of smoke she could smell leather and steel and... him.

She cuddled closer. He chuckled – Garnet could hear and feel it, but there was something else, deeper, rhythmically; it lulled her to sleep effortlessly.

She woke to the sound of water and a familiar melody. Zidane was humming their song. Her eyes opened and she was surprised to see stars twinkling above her.

"A purr!" yes, that's what it had sounded like before.

He looked at her quizzically, eyes wide. It looked pretty funny from her point of view, since her head lay in his lap. She sat up and his head moved to the bushes at the sideline of the clearing so fast that her heart skipped a couple of beats.

What had he heard? An animal, a monster... her guards?

"Where?" he asked and looked back at her. At first she didn't understand, then she hit him on the shoulder for making fun of her.

"No, you purred when you picked me up."

"Did not." he sounded trustworthy, but she could see in the light how his cheeks slowly turned pink.

Light?

Sidetracked for the moment, she turned her head and spotted a small lantern in the grass some eight feet away from were they sat.

"Well," he got up and stretched his arms behind his back, his tail straightened out as well, before it flopped down to its usual slightly curled up position as he let go of the tension,"now that you're awake, we can grab the lamp and head back to the castle." he said, but didn't move an inch towards the light source.

Garnet sighed and went to get it herself. When she got closer, she noticed that there was something next to the light. A tiny nest of various field flowers lay on the ground, with a sparkling _something_ in the middle.

"Zidane...?"

The sound of her voice was soft but the calm breeze carried it to his ears. For a seemingly unending moment of silence he'd nervously been awaiting any kind of reaction.

She turned to him and he walked up to her, acting nonchalantly. Questioningly she looked at him, holding the delicate gold ring in her hand like she was afraid it would vanish if she put to much pressure on it.

He took it from her as to check if it'd be worth the trouble of selling. She'd seen him do this countless times before, deciding if he liked a piece of jewelry better than the Gil he'd get for it.

"Zidane, is that...?"

"I didn't steal it."

His cool act dropped within seconds. The answer had come instantly and she got the feeling he'd been afraid of her running off if he didn't get it out fast enough.

"I bought it. I got a job and eared honest money - well most of it anyway... and - "

"Zidane." Garnet had never seen him get so worked up about anything before and it lead to an astounding discovery.

"Huh?"

"You ramble when you're nervous."

"Yeah... s-sorry." his smile looked kind of painful.

This wasn't the way he had planned this night to go. Oh well, he'd just focus on damage-control for now and try again some other time.

"W-we," _Get it together, man!, _he thought_,_"We should get you back into your room before Sir Rustalot finds out and starts to go all ballistic on us – well, on me at least..."

He was already several feet away when he noticed she hadn't moved. "Yer coming?"

"No." It sounded more like 'nooo-uu?', like that answer should be totally obvious.

Oh, shoot. This was not good.

"Please, come back here."

He did but couldn't meet her eyes. This was all wrong. She deserved better, so much better. He shouldn't have even tried.

"Are you being silly again?" she asked softly, reading his thoughts. Sometimes he wondered if she truly could.

Dagger stroke the side of his face and cupped his cheek. Zidane felt himself meld under her touch.

Then she kissed him.

Of course they had kissed many times before. A handful of long, sweet kisses that had left her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but mostly quick pecks on the cheek. This time he changed it into a complete different direction.

It was long and fierce and she could feel his hands gripping her back tightly, pulling her closer to him. At one time she could feel his tongue stroke her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She was confused. Did people do that when they kissed? But then decided she didn't care.

It was an odd sensation to have a part of him inside her. His tongue was hot and slick, and started to carefully explore her mouth. It tickled her own with its tip and nudged it to move as well. This was so odd, yet pleasant. He tasted of the seewt cherries that surrounded the meadow. His breath entered her lungs and she began to feel light headed. It felt fantastic.

All too soon, he broke the kiss and looked at her in awe. He could tell she'd never had a kiss like that, but had to admit that she seemingly possessed a natural talent at it. He was panting and so was she.

"Yes, I do."

"I haven't even asked yet." he sounded a little sulking.

"Were you going to?"

"Nah, probably not tonight." he grinned and his eyes sparkled like stars.

Garnet had once seen a gem that had looked just like them and the merchant had told her that its cut was called 'Starburst'. She knew Mikoto had the same kind of eyes, so she figured it must be a Genome thing.

They were beautiful either way.

Zidane then got down on one knee and slid the ring on her left ring finger. It was a perfect fit.

He stayed like this for a moment, holding and kissing her hand softly.

"My Lady," he said, but something about his voice sounded off,"Your Majesty, you need to wake up."

She didn't recall this part of their engagement night.

"Please, Regent Cid and King Puck have arrived and wish to speak to you."

Groggily Garnet opened her eyes and saw two of her chamber maids kneeling next to the bed.

* * *

After she took a bath and got into a rather loose corset, she dismissed the servants and went to her night table to retrieve the ring Zidane had given to her.

It was quite simple, really, but that's were its charm lay. The gold band had a fine engraving of vines and leafs. The three small gemstones that had been lowered into the metal looked like blossoms. They created a beautiful harmony of dark red, reddish orange and a lighter shade of orange, with more yellow in it. They were all different but in the end, they were all garnets.

From today on it didn't have to be hidden in her drawer. She smiled as she admired it.

Today was the conference were she would officially announce her decision to the Alexandrian nobility as well as all allied nations.

She knew if she'd have done so without their allies present, the men who governed the provinces of her kingdom would've been able to force her to request the neighboring nation's written approvals, which would give them even more time to find something new that could prevent her marriage with Zidane.

Of course – as the Queen she was – she could simply put her foot down on the matter and get married anyway, but that would risk the carefully restored peace of her kingdom – the last thing her people needed was a civil war or - at best - a couple of breakaway provinces. Such a behavior also wouldn't make it any easier for Zidane to get accepted as the man at her side.

She sighed. Sometimes she wished ruling a kingdom had less to do with carefully fathom each movement as not to step on anyone's slippers and more with actually being involved with her people.

* * *

Zidane woke up late again and stifled a yawn.

He wasn't exactly known to be an early raiser as long as there weren't any monsters breathing up his back but this bed was making it even worse than usual. It was too big, too fluffy and way too soft for his taste. He felt like he'd drown in it or get suffocated by one of the many cushions.

Sometimes he'd just take the bed sheet and the smallest, hardest pillow he could find and sleep on the carpet covered floor.

Still rubbing his eyes he went to look for cloths. He groaned as yet again one of his own pieces of clothing had miraculously vanished. This time it was the holster he usually kept his daggers in. He shrugged it of and got dressed in whatever the servants had laid out for him, minus the pompous cape and the ridiculously piccadil.

He also decided to keep his own boots for they allowed him to place a small dagger into each of them. The hilts were still somewhat visible but otherwise it looked fine. He just felt terrible without them being accessible at any time, he guessed living his live would do that to anyone.

Especially today he didn't want to miss them as a kind if 'good luck' token.

Not with so many strangers – mostly nobles and their cohorts - roaming the castle freely, mingling with many people he held dear.

Food was the next thing on his agenda.

As he opened the door he saw a small army of servants – maids, kitchen hands, soldiers, hair-dresser – running thrust-fully though the halls of the guest wing he sorta lived in.

He tried not to bump into anyone on his way down to the kitchen. Down here it usually was pretty peaceful if you didn't come right before a meal was supposed to be served. Today it looked like the last place on earth you'd want to be in. People run, mopped, fried and chopped who-knows-what everywhere, preparing a huge variety of dishes for breakfast, lunch, tea-time and dinner at the same time. In the most chaotic place stood Quina, dressed in its usual blue. pink and white outfit.

Back in the days, their little group had pretty fast decided that the whole 's/he' and 'her/his' business was too troublesome for daily usage and switching between male and female forms was just as stupid. Therefor they'd decided to use 'it' and 'its' instead. The Blue Mage didn't seem to care about any this stuff.

"Hey Quina." he said and was instantly greeted by his friend's blazing eyes that turned a little watery as the peculiar creature started to complain.

"Zidane, I no can cook yummy yummy food in kitchen!"

"Well, why not, too crowded?"

Quina shook its head, making the red tongue wobble a little from side to side.

Zidane wondered - a little off-topic - how it could cook and chop up things without being afraid to cut its tongue. He himself had curled his tail around one leg to minimize any potential risk what-so-ever.

"No cook because man," a large white hand pointed at a very small man who walked around and yelled at the staff ever so often and wore a white hat so monumental that it made it look like he tried to overcompensate for something else,"will no stop yelling at Quina for cooking delicious frogs for lunch!"

Just than the blond man spotted a big bucket full of gagged and hogtied frogs, looking up at him with their big black-pearl like eyes. He suddenly didn't feel hungry anymore.

"Tell you what, Quina," he laid his hand on the Q's shoulder,"why don't you finish your shift and then cook all of them for yourself?"

"Frogs all for me?" It seemed to like the idea immensely.

"Yeah, sound good, doesn't it?"

Quina nodded excitedly before tilting its head to the side.

"But what 'bout people in castle?"

"Ah, they'll find something else. Dagger won't allow anyone to starve in her castle."

"Dagger good queen, yes yes. Aaaalways food in storeroom."

"Yes, she is." with this he left Quina, who had returned to cutting vegetables, happily mumbling about frog-liver with tomato-mint-sauce.

* * *

He decided to look for Mikoto – whom he rarely saw since he had convinced her that learning from Melissa was a one-time chance to gain great knowledge she could use to provide better care for the Genomes back in Oeil Vert – the only argument that had made her consider it at all.

He'd find a new thing for her to do once she finished her studies, for there was no way he'd let her go back to that place full of... puppets. She had become so much more alive and interested in her surroundings ever since they had left the Forgotten Continent, that he sometimes couldn't believe she was the same person he'd met on Terra.

_Hey Mikoto, where are you? _

It felt weird using the mind-link again after several weeks of mostly normal conversations – not counting those where he unconsciously switched to Terran because he talked faster that he thought. There was seldom any use for 'mind-talking' while they stayed at the castle. But it could be become very handy when he tried to find her.

_Dining Hall, right hand corner in the back, under the Syringa josikaea -_

_Lunchroom under a green plant-thingy, roger._ He interrupted her and was now almost able to feel her annoyance.

_It would be wiser if you didn't come here._

_Why, what are you doing? _

_Not being noticed while considering who might cause the most vehement resistance concerning your marriage with the queen._

_Look for someone called 'de Lairén'._ Zidane suggested while groping blindly for the next chair's seat to avoid an accidental sit down on the ground as he watched the dining hall through his sister's eyes.

_Is there a history?_

_Well, kinda. Me being alive and back sorta ruined his son's wedding plans with Dagger. _He grinned.

_She sent him a Morning Glory?_

_Yep, a blue one. Why, what does it mean?_

_Love in vain._

Yautsh, he thought, that's harsh. But didn't really find it in him to feel honest pity.

_What does it being blue mean?_

_No idea, I haven't covered that chapter yet._

_Wait, there is a book about that kind of stuff? Were you able to read it?_

_Mostly._ Her answer carried a gust of frustration with it.

He nodded. No matter how much she liked book - and she did like them like hardly any other person he knew – she still had the same trouble he had: Gaian letters just didn't make any sense!

_The man you're looking for isn't here yet and I have to go now._

_Where to?_

_I have a meeting with Dr. Tot in the reading room._

_More history lessons?_

Shortly after Garnet's and his engagement, he had discovered that Mikoto had taken a liking on Gaian history – mostly really old political things - which resulted in her spending hours and hours listening to the quirky old scholar. But all was well as long as it kept her mind off the subject of wanting to return to Oeil Vert.

_It is very educational. Care to join me?_ Her tone was sweet, probably because she knew he'd refuse to anyway.

He did, continuing his search for some entertainment.

And there was just the right person for it, he thought as he sneaked up to the very familiar back side.

"How's it going, 'Ratchel'?"

"You...", Freya huffed and turned, using her entire height to look down on him hard,"Hasn't anyone ever told you that repeating a lame joke doesn't make it any better?"

Zidane just grinned and winked at her,"Long time no see."

"Longer for you than me."

"Yeah," he scratched the back of his head awkwardly,"I was kinda occupied after the play."

She just shook her head and smiled. After all, she knew best how it felt to be united with a loved one after a long time of separation.

"So, you're really ready for all of this? Settling down, marriage, ruling a kingdom... kids?"

"Well, I don't know about the last part, but I do love Dagger. And she'll still be the one ruling Alexandria – I'll try to help, but... its way more complicated than it looks."

Freya nodded understandingly. She had spent the last two years teaching Puck how to do it – parallel to rebuilding his kingdom and leading her own life.

"Anyway, are you still babysitting that royal brat?" Zidane joked and he knew anyone else would have gotten a good taste of her spear for that statement. But she simply smiled again and the look she gave him made him feel like he'd missed out on some inside joke.

"Oh, I'm babysitting a lot more than that. Care to meet my children?"

"Your... your what?"

Cinna's nomination for 'Mr. Swimsuit' wouldn't have been able to shock him more.

She looked at him sternly. "Just because I'm a warrior doesn't mean I'm any less of a woman." she lectured him and managed to sound remarkably like Beatrix. He didn't dare tell her so. Instead he raised his hands in surrender,"I never said that."

Being a mom seemed to have cut her temper short.

"May I see them, please?"

* * *

The sight that presented itself in front of him as the door to the guest room opened was... chaotic.

It was all a fast moving blur of tails, wings, hats and feathers.

Thus far Zidane was able to make out four to eight rat-kids, several 'Mini-Mages' and three Moogles having one heck of a pillow-fight.

He noticed Dagger sitting on an armchair in the corner, cuddling another one of what he assumed to be Freya's children close to her. She was laughing as the two of them watched the fight.

He knew she'd be a wonderful mother one day.

"This is Alan, my youngest." Freya introduced him as they had made their way to the pair.

The small toddler – he looked about four, an unnerving sight considering that he couldn't be more than one or two– stared at him wide-eyed, blushed, looked up at his mother and asked in a quiet, shy voice,"Is that him?" and she nodded.

"Its him!" a chorus of voices shouted excitedly from behind, before Zidane found himself surrounded by a bunch of rug-rats – no pun intended.

They jumped up and down, asking dozens of questions – half of which he couldn't answer fast enough and half of which he couldn't understand since they consisted of a bunch of typical Burmecian squeaks.

At this moment, the door opened wide, granting entrance to Sir Fratley Lacus, who seemed anything but pleased with his children's behavior.

Fascinated, Zidane watched as the mere present of their father calmed the rascals down and how a single, deep sound – kinda like a whistle, but lower and nasal - was all it took to make them stand in a neat row – from tallest to smallest, including Alan who had slid from the queen's lap and took his place at the end of the line.

Knowledge dawned on the blond man, remembering all the times his red cloaked friend had confronted him with this exact sound, but had always refused to translate it.

The new arrived Dragon Knight bowed in a very dignified manner to the queen, who dipped her head in return.

Meanwhile Zidane grinned at the lady knight in belated congratulation.

"May I introduce?" Fratley's voice was deep and calming,"Madison, Chloe, Grace, Hannah, Ember, Lia, Alan." They all bowed as they were introduced – some having slight trouble not to fall over – and managed to look like little angels.

The girls were all dressed in bright colors like orange, green, violet and yellow, whereas Alan wore a dreamy light blue. His white fur made him look a like a little cloud in the early afternoon sky.

Zidane didn't know who deserved more pity, Fratley for constantly having seven females around, or Alan for having six loud and obviously very outspoken sisters.

* * *

"He sure has a way with children. You're very lucky, my dear." Hilda said, chuckling softly behind a delicately raised hand as she watched her daughter play with the group in the garden.

Garnet nodded and smiled radiantly as loud sheers rang out to the small patio they were having tea at. After many attempts the kids had successfully manage to toss Zidane into the fountain, much to his chagrin as two tiny moogle children flew comical circles around his head.

There he sat for a moment, looking remarkably like a drenched ally-cat.

Freya laughed wholeheartedly and even Steiner – standing watch over the little tea-party – couldn't prevent a small, gleeful grin from spreading across his features. It had always been an open secret that the thief hated to get wet.

Garnet giggled – not entirely in sympathy – at the imagination how his whole tail would bristle up, starting from the base reaching out to the tip until it looked like an overstuffed pin-cushion.

Zidane – looking miserable – climbed out of the water, dragged himself to a sunny spot on the grass and lay down, spread out like an eagle.

Of course the children were hot on his tail – literary – and found themselves at the end of their wits as the teen closed his eyes and began to ignore them.

They lowered their guards as they crept closer. He could feel someone – probably Chloe, the cheekiest of Freya's daughters – poke him in the ribs with her fingertip.

He took his time, waiting for the perfect moment to -

"Wuhaaa!"

Without warning his eyes flew open, he grabbed the first body he could get and tickled him like there was no tomorrow. His victim – little Alan, who had just recently joined the spectacle – screamed first in fright and then with laughter until his sides hurt.

Soon the blond saw himself outnumbered when first the rat-girls – either in comradeship to their brother or because they didn't want to miss out on the fun – then Eiko - followed a little hesitantly by the remaining Mages and Moogles - were all over him, tickling him mercilessly.

"Can't say who is babysitting whom, kupo." Kupo said from her place on the table and swallowed another blueberry-muffin whole.

* * *

Did you like it?

PS: Where I'm from, people wear an engagement ring on the left and a wedding band on the right hand. I know its the other way around in most parts of the US. Just wanted to let you know to avoid confusion ^^

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Since there seemed to be quite a lot of confusion about the status of Zidane's memory: just leave me a little note in your review and I'll sent you an 'unconfuzzle' note with chapter quotes and stuff (What, did I hear "that's called blackmailing!"? Well, life's tough ;P )

* * *

On that note: **Reviews please! ^_^**


	17. Proposal

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 16 – Proposal

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi there^.^

I don't understand why a lot of people dream of a beach-house. What's great about hearing waves 24/7? I seriously don't know, especially not since I woke up with a sudden hearing loss in my right ear last week. The worst thing is not the "not-hearing"-part; it's hearing nothing **except** for your own blood. So annoying (oh yeah and the insurance won't cover it for kinda no reason at all!)

Huuuge virtual hugs to Fruity-Fruit-Cups and Kyubi-Emz-Chan ^_^

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 16 – Proposition**

_From a very early age, I knew I didn't want to miss out on anything life had to offer just because it might be considered dangerous. _

Z. Tribal

* * *

Zidane was getting nervous as the big conference room's population continued to increase.

He could already make out the line between his territory and what he considered the enemy's.

The 'good guys' – basically Garnet, himself and their guests – sat in the back, facing the door. The foreign leaders were seated on heavy white desks that seemed to have grown right out of the marble floor. They were arranged in a generous semi-circle with him and his betrothed in the middle. Their additional supporters had been given chairs along the wall behind them.

The other side of the room was filled with several rows of chairs - like they had been used to seat the audience during the play – without any kind of desks. Those nobles shouldn't feel all that welcome after all.

The whole idea of this meeting was to humble these stuck-up province-leaders who had been sworn into unity under Alexandria's banner with the tremendous number of rulers – who made their attendance in person not just through representatives – of neighboring and allied nations, all standing in favor to him as the next Prince Consort. Like he cared about titles.

Still, Zidane noticed with a lot of satisfaction how most the nobles exchanged nervous – worried? - looks after it was now more than obvious that Garnet had been taking precautions.

The Genome looked up as 'Master Orunitia of the Black Mage Village', by far the youngest participant, entered the room. He was now considered twelve years old, a fact Zidane doubted secretly. Knowing the things he did, he estimated his friend's age closer to three and a half; four tops. Additionally, he knew from the various reports the small mage had sent that there weren't any grown-ups left in the tiny village with its smiley-faced cottages.

He felt terrible for not caring more – amnesia or not – about them during his stay after the big Iifa-Tree-went-ballistic-event and all. But at least Vivi wasn't alone anymore, although the blond was pretty sure he'd never understand how all this 'Mini-Mages' came into the world; he'd never been good with science.

"King Puck of Burmecia and his wife, Queen Marill of Clayra."

The announcer's loud voice yanked the teen out of his thoughts, turning towards Garnet wide eyed.

"Wait, that shrimp's married?" Zidane whispered in disbelief. Last time he'd seen the prince he must have been around nine, which would make him what, eleven - twelve?

The young king entered the room.

He was tall, muscular and looked everything but twelve with his well groomed dark brown mustache and calculating eyes, as he surveyed the room, immediately creating an impressive air of authority. He was dressed in the traditional dark violet, green and golden robes of his kingdom completed by the golden helmet-like crown. Puck looked about seventeen or eighteen, making Zidane wonder if there had ever been more than one Prince Puck of Burmecia.

The young girl on his arm was a real beauty of her kind.

Long caramel-colored hair framed a delicate snow-white face in soft waves. The tip of her nose was a soft pink, matching the color of her dress perfectly. Despite all that, Zidane could see that Puck probably hadn't married her for her good looks alone – Freya would have made sure of that – for her dark eyes displayed at least an equal amount of cleverness and intelligence as her husband's.

"Well, of course he is," Garnet whispered back in surprise,"he celebrated his eighth birthday in early spring."

Sometimes an answer only leads to dozens of new questions, but in consideration of the discussion that lay in the immediate future Zidane decided on the most urgent one.

"Then... How old is Freya?" he asked as 'Sir and Lady Lacus' - the two most high-ranked Dragon Knights – entered behind their rulers. The Alexandrian Queen thought about it while nodding her greetings to Freya and Fratley.

"Fifteen, I think."

He stared at the side of her face in shock.

Was she seriously telling him that Freya – all grown up and being a mom – being that much younger than him? It was also a disturbing thought that he'd been flirting with a nine-year-old when he first met the lady knight. Impossible, she'd looked more like eighteen.

"They age a lot faster than we do, didn't you know?"

"No... How old do they get?" his voice sounded far off even to himself and made the woman at his side press his hand in sympathy as she answered in a low, sad voice, "A little over twenty."

Swallowing hard, he decided to take care of the things he could handle first, before thinking about those he couldn't.

The last person to enter was Mikoto, who – un-introduced – found her place next to Vivi, both of them looking very little pleased with the seating arrangements. Through, why she sat at the desk with all pf them to begin with, was an unsolved mystery.

The last foreign royals took their rightful seats with their guards postured dutifully behind them.

And so the conference began.

After the obligatory greetings, introductions and announcements, Garnet – in a very calm, prosaic fashion – told the assembled nobility about her acceptance to 'Mr. Tribal's' wedding proposal.

As predicted, a loud murmur went through the crowd. Zidane earned several glances of pure disgust and hate – the first of many he'd receive that day. He didn't care. To be honest, he wasn't even aware of them. For the first time ever, he had really been the chance to witness Garnet as a determined, levelheaded ruler. It had always escaped his imagination how a princess, who seemed to be so... out of depth with the most trivial things of day-to-day living – not to mention her own survival – could seriously be expected to run a small kingdom, much less one as huge and important as Alexandria.

Seeing her now was... indescribable.

* * *

The lower nobles held several speeches, but nothing that could be considered troublesome. They were pawns after all. Garnet's reaction to their words allowed the higher ranked to judge her determination and locate any potential doubts she might have tried to hide.

During yet another address – this time from a brown haired man in his mid-twenties – the mood of the room toppled from one second to the next, leaving Zidane with an uneasy, slightly torpid state; the young noble on the other side became more and more daring as he spoke.

"I mean merely to point out, that said man had spent an extraordinarily large amount of time with Your Majesty during the last... military occurrences. A marriage – become necessary by whatever unseemingly reason - with the subject is by no means a suitable way to represent our noble kingdom."

"Speak clearly, what _exactly_ are you accusing him of– me for this matter as well?" Garnet's tone was like ice: hard and sharp-edged. She knew exactly what he meant, but implying something and saying it out loud were two very different pair of shoes when it came to legal punishment.

"N-nothing, Your Majesty! I'm only a loyal servant to the crown, who is naturally concerned about the maintenance of Alexandria's royal – legitimate – bloodline."

The room's feeling switched again, leaving the man more shocked than ever. Large beads of cold sweat formed on his temples and the nape of his neck.

"Which – as you will certainly agree – is first and foremost my concern. Therefore – if you do not conceive a desire to contribute to anything else that could easily be construed as high treason – I kindly advise you to sit back down."

The man nodded - all his artificial confidence wiped off his face -, sat down and tried to turn invisible for the rest of the meeting.

Still confused what had just happened, Zidane still had to hide his grin. He knew from his own experience, how intimidating this particular 120 lb girl could get – without adding several savage beasts into the equation. But all humor aside, this young noble's insolent behavior showed quite drastically, that the ice they walked on was even thinner than they had expected.

From then on, the speeches were less worrisome in nature, especially regarding Garnet's authority as queen. And after this first stern reprimand, the nobles had changed from presenting reasons that spoke against Garnet marrying him, to reasons that spoke against him marrying her.

* * *

The worst thing about the whole ordeal was, that Garnet had made him promise to stay calm and to let her do all the talking. 'I have been raised to fight this kind of battles' had been her main argument and he knew she was right.

He figured that this was probably the hero in him, who had always tried to play an active part in protecting those around him.

Or maybe, he thought, I'm giving myself too much credit and this is actually my male ego being wounded.

Either way, before this date he hadn't known how much of him exactly was to be considered _unsuited _for the position of Prince Consort. Right now, he got the feeling the only thing they wouldn't complain about were his eyebrows.

Not that most of their 'concerns' wouldn't be reasonable, if those who ushered them had known how close they were to the truth. His 'foreign' heritage – which a high ranked old geezer named Burghose or whatnot, had just started to rant about – was one of them.

If they had changed their argument from 'Non-Alexandrian peasants are prohibited to marry into the royal line' to 'It is dangerous to allow an alien gen-experiment - from a parasitic, bloodthirsty, planet – who had been created to destroy all living things on Gaia, to marry into the royal line'... Well, even Zidane would have had to agree that it sounded like a very, very dumb idea especially since it was all true, only slightly outdated.

"To paraphrase your point, Lord de Borghese" Mikoto's voice rung clear though the vast room as she spoke for the first time, being recognized by the majority for the first time as well,"you see his common heritage as an adamant obstacle to join the royal household."

"Yes, I do. But who might you be young lady? I can not recall witnessing your introduction." an old noble, who had stood up from his seat and obviously fought his irritation upon being interrupted by this mere girl. He didn't know who she was and therefore tried to keep even the smallest amount of common courtesy in his voice.

The unknown was always dangerous.

"This, my dear Lord de Borghese, is Lady Mikoto Tribal of Oeil Vert." introduced Dr. Tot in a pleasant voice.

The crowd began whispering intensely.

The information of a new found civilization on the Western Continent was old news, but recently there had been talk about the settlement being a lot bigger than expected. The people were said to be exceptionally skilled in battle and technology – how else could they have kept control of a whole continent that was known for its many natural resources for the last centuries?

Zidane grinned slightly as he picked up the gossip with his keen ears. He had personally ensured that those rumors would spread like wildfires all over the main continent.

"And," continued the scholar sternly, after the assembled crowd had been called to order,"I would not smile down on her, for Miss Tribal is wise far beyond your years."

The gray-haired noble was stunned into silence.

The Queen's former teacher was known for his generosity and kind words. He praised those who were deserving of it, but no one had - ever - heard him voice an indignity before.

Mikoto nodded her appreciation to Dr. Tot and he sat back down.

"I can assure you that this is not an issue you need to be troubled with, for my brother,", she gestured to Zidane – who was slightly taken aback from this title as she had never called him this before,"is far from being born a commoner. Whereas he is indeed ruler – 'King' you would say – of the Western Continent, whose people I represent here today. Therefore," she ignored the renewed commotion while inconspicuously observing the high-ranked guest's expressions, who all looked like they had known all of this from the beginning,"this would not only be an union between two individuals, but between two nations."

She looked at Lord de Lairén calculatingly, who seemed remarkably unfazed - ready to for retaliation, if he wasn't checkmated instantly - and added, "Just like the wedding of Queen Garnet the seventh and Lord Lorin de Lairén in 1399, which lead to the union of their lands to what is today known as Alexandria."

The de Lairén's current family patriarch wanted to curse – badly.

There was no way to the twin-moons and back he – who's family was well known to take great pride in this particular event (blissfully ignoring the almost sixteen generations that had walked the earth since then) – could distribute the political importance and advantage of such an arrangement, especially when compared to a wedding with his own heir, which would only bind the royal household closer to its own longtime nobility.

But he had to hand it to this irritating girl: she had done her homework properly. Now his hands were tied and he wouldn't be able to publicly press the issue any further – at least for some time.

Therefore he nodded, feigning approval, and the confused herd of noblemen and noblewomen present for decoration only - followed his example without questioning his motives.

"All in favor of the marriage of Garnet til Alexandros the seventeenth, Queen of Alexandria, and Zidane Tribal, ruler of Oeil Vert, King of the Western Continent," Cid - taking full advantage of the favorable situation - announced solemnly,"raise your arms high."

His own was the first one up, followed by everyone's, even if the nobles' movements were only hesitantly done until Lord de Lairen voted in favor as well.

"Of course the nobility of Alexandria will welcome this union – after the traditional nine month period of the engagement." he declared and his side of the room murmured in agreement.

"Of course." Garnet replied in a neutral tone, refraining from mention that this tradition hadn't been called for once for now more than three generations.

At this time the anger seethed behind Zidane's cool facade, despite their victory.

He knew exactly why the nobles where so eager to make them wait that long: Not only did they – again – question his beloved's virtue by implying the possibility of a planned shotgun-wedding, but it also wangled them more time to try just about anything to drive a wedge between them, to eventually place one of their own on the throne.

"The date is set on the fifteenth of January, 1804."

Her stubborn proclamation managed to make the blond man smile despite his temper. It showed that underneath all the layers of silk and powder, Dagger still existed, for said date was set exactly one day before the imposed time period expired. But who could possibly have the nerve to interfere, since it would their queen's twentieth birthday?

* * *

After a grand feast to celebrate their engagement – including all the happy congratulations of their friends, Eiko's generous 'It's better this way since Dagger is the only one I'll hand you over to', and two hours of facing the forced oh-so-happy smiles of some sour losers – the table fellowship broke up. Some prepared their up coming depature and others used the opportunity to take a stroll through the town.

Another popular place to be were the gardens, where the happy couple was – for the first time – allowed to openly display their relationship. Garnet leaned her head on Zidane's shoulder as they walked. He chuckled, enjoying the envious side glances of the majority of men in a fifty feet radius almost as much as the feeling of the beauty on his arm.

Their bliss came to an end as they noticed an elderly couple ahead that made a bee-line for them.

"The Lairén dude." Zidane said between clenched teeth.

"Lord and Lady de Lairén." he looked at her with a raised eyebrow for her tone – although lecturingly – didn't sound any more pleased than his own.

After they had exchanged various pleasentries no one truly felt, Lady de Lairén – a chubby blond woman in her late forties buttonholed the young woman into a superficial conversation about wedding themes and dresses.

Her husband turned to the future Prince Consort.

"May I have a word with you?" the man indicated to an abandoned pavilion surrounded by more than man-high boxtree-sculptures a little off the park's main path.

They stopped behind a monstrous Mu just outside of anyone's hearing distance.

During the first minutes of small talk, Zidane began to feel sluggish again, just as he had during some parts of the meeting earlier. The kids had worn him out more than he'd realized.

The end of his tail dropped to the ground as it usually did when he was tired – and very tired he was.

"I always tell my son 'Taking care of one's people is hard work' - of course, we do this on an entirely different scale than you do." the province ruler chuckled humbly, amused as he compared his little domain to the one of the 'King of the Western Continent'.

Zidane joined in, however only because of the absurdity of it all. This man would probably rather die than talk to him if he knew that he'd just been pronounced ruler over a big sand-hill with barely fifty people in it. _What a joke!_

* * *

Garnet's white mage's instincts were unconsciously triggered, as a thin tread of magic found its way unseeingly from her body towards her second half's ankle, from where it expanded into a thin invisible blanket.

* * *

Zidane's tail thrashed in irritation.

The Lord, obviously taking the gesture the wrong way – what did he think the younger man was, a dog? - grinned triumphantly.

"You see, old men often have difficulties to accept new ways of handling a situation. This comes as naturally as the seasons' change since they have seen it all before, being done their way. Please, be forbearing with them." he smiled indulgently, like he'd done so himself on numerous occasions.

" I – on the other hand – can see that our beloved Queen has made a wise decision, which will lead Alexandria into a glorious new era. Most of the nobles can not envision it yet, as we can, but I am sure I can make even the most obstinate men, Lord de Borghese for instance, see sense. Furthermore..." he assessed his opponent carefully, as he chose his next words," there would be no more use for a prolonged engagement period, your wedding could be in less than a month."

Wow, this guy would've made a remarkable salesman, Zidane thought as he could all but see the big 'if' looming over this all too alluring prospect. He also knew that – had there really been a need for a shotgun-wedding – it would've been close to impossible to not take the bait.

"What's in this for you?"

"Oh, that sounds so harshly!" his laugh was pleasant – grandfatherly even - as he hastily tried to placate the blond before him,"The agreement I had in mind would be utterly beneficial to both our families, as well as the kingdom of -"

"And that is...?" the young man prompted, now visibly on edge. He was tired and cloyed by the ongoing harangue.

Lord de Lairén obviously knew how to bent with the wind, for his tone suddenly changed into a husky whisper, his green old eyes gleaming with a blazing fire.

"A betrothal. Let your sister call me 'Father' and I'll call you 'My King'."

* * *

Wow, a lot has happened in this chapter.

About the Burmecians' lifespan: do you remember the young couple you rescue in Burmecia? The woman is pregnant, but the next time you see them in Lindblum, the kids are running around like crazy and look a lot older than they should've been. I'll come back to this topic in another chapter.

Random language-thing I noticed while writing this chapter: there is no word to describe what your sister's husband's father is to you, in any language I checked!

* * *

**Reviews please ^o^**

PS: Due to my current health condition, I can't say when I'll update again (this is not a matter of 'if', just 'when'!) I hope you understand because it's really hard to concentrate for longer periods of time with half of your focus elsewhere :(


	18. Diplomacy

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 17 – Diplomacy

* * *

**Author's note**

Huhu^.^

After 1 ½ weeks drip infusions and acupuncture treatment, I finally know how it feels to be a pin-cushion XD But I feel a lot better ^.^

Thanks to: Clement Rage, Kyubi and Fruity-Fruit-Cups for their great reviews!

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 17**

"Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way."

D. Vare

* * *

Lord de Lairén obviously knew how to bent with the wind, for his tone suddenly changed into a husky whisper, his green old eyes gleaming with a blazing fire.

"A betrothal. Let your sister call me 'Father' and I'll call you 'My King'."

Zidane starred at him in shock, instinctively taking a step back.

"Hell no!" he all but shouted, causing a few nobles to turn their heads to the hidden pair before continuing their idle chatter.

The old man – who was more than surprised at his opponent's outburst – noticed a faint rainbow-like shimmer surrounding the young man and displayed a grim smile before his features smoothed over. In a renewed grandfatherly voice he tried again.

"My son is a very well mannered and handsome man close to her age. It doesn't have to be now, I can see that your sister is still too petite and frail too bear healthy sons, but I am positive she'll make an exquisite bride in... Two years?"

The blond's brows furled dangerously, but his voice was much calmer than before. "No."

"I can assure you that -" whatever the noble planned on saying next went unheard for a low, feline growl silenced him instantly.

For a short moment the Genome was close to simply follow his instincts, which told him to crouch down and to teach this repulsive man a lesson. He wouldn't allow him to get anywhere near his family, be it Mikoto or Dagger – the later having been too close to actually marrying this Nathan de Lairén guy. He carefully straightened his legs, knowing that it was only a small way from a crouch to an attack. Even his limited diplomatic skills told him that it was a very bad idea to take hand-tight actions towards this particular noble.

"I said 'no'. Neither will I be king, nor will I sell my sister like a piece of meat."

"Very well then," Lord de Lairén stated in a businesslike manner, having quickly recovered from the younger man's animalic behavior,"I am deeply grieved that you think so, but maybe you will change your mind on the subject. Have a nice day, Mister Tribal." he nodded his goodbye and left supercilious without awaiting a formal dismissal.

* * *

Garnet was rejoined by her betrothed shortly after the couple de Lairén excused themselves from her presence. She hadn't failed to notice the slight shake of the head the man had greeted his wife with.

The blond at her side seemed calm, but than again: he had always been a formidable actor. There was only one part of him his skills had no influence on: his tail. Based on all the erratic twisting and turning it displayed, she could tell that he was more than upset. Therefore she didn't protest as he wordlessly guided her to the small clearing with the waterfall and cherry trees – an area restricted to anyone but them.

* * *

"Can you believe this?"

The young queen gnawed on her bottom lip as she watched him pace in front of the gray rock she sat on, her back to the water basin. Of course the noble's offer had been daring and calculable, but nothing that would have surprised her.

She sighed, once again realizing that they had grown up worlds apart – figuratively spoken of course. In her world it was customary that girls born into the high society were used as bargain tools to secure their family's position and wealth. Therefore it had been predictable for a high ranked bachelor like her former suitor to try for the next best match, unfortunate this being her future sister-in-law.

Whether she approved of this practice or not was written on an entirely different piece of parchment.

* * *

She stood in her night grown in front of the open window, watching the blue moon dip the garden in a soft silver light, without really seeing any of it. She was barely aware of her company kneeling obediently behind her, awaiting to be told the reason for her summoning.

"Maybe it is a mistake after all." her voice was faint, yet loud in the silence. She heard the ruffling of clothes as the servant rose, finally being addressed to.

"What makes you second guess you decision now, after the victory has been achieved?"

Garnet shook her head, following a patrolling guard on his way through the grounds with her eyes.

"This is all I ever wanted, but..."

"You are afraid he'll regret his decision to stay."

It was a statement, not a question.

The queen's shoulder's slouched.

"I do not think he will. From all the things I have witnessed and heard of him, I think he will adapt quickly to the challenges this new lifestyle provides." her objective tone changed slightly into something softer,"Besides he simply adores you. Even Captain Steiner ushered his approval – not a small accomplishment."

The ruler smiled as she recalled how much had changed between those two. She also remembered an event that had taken place earlier this evening, resulting in a poorly masked smile of said Captain as he left her quarters.

"Have you ever been married, Beatrix?"

Silence.

"I have been."

This surprised the young queen. Normally only maidens were allowed into the ranks of the Venus Verticordia, the female life-guards of Alexandrian queens and princesses.

"To a farmer's first son who's name I can hardly recall. One week after the ceremony my father returned from the front and was obsessed with the idea that one of his children would serve as a high ranked officer in the royal army, continuing the legacy of his name." the woman's voice was impersonal, like it affected someone she has creased to be a long time ago," There were six of us, all girls. I was the oldest, but not by far. Why he picked me, I don't now, but he did. One of my sisters took the place at my husband's side tacitly and I was sent here."

The younger woman thought for a moment. She remembered Sir Armgard from stories her father used to tell her as a child. The memory was vague as it got mixed up with numerous names, places and battles, but she clearly remembered that her father had dismissed the knight very reluctantly from his ranks after he'd lost his sword-arm. Some rumored that he had lost more than that.

"He was a brave man." she said absentmindedly, recalling the former king's words.

"A good soldier." Beatrix agreed while simultaneously correcting the ebony haired's statement by limiting his qualities to those of a servant.

Garnet nodded and turned to her general, recalling the reason she'd called for her. "You should retire early today, I have plans to visit the town tomorrow.

The woman bowed and bid her queen good night, mentally making a list of things that had to be arranged for the upcoming trip.

* * *

A quiet knock resounded loudly through the room's silence.

Beatrix closed the book she's been reading and put it on a low couch table before reaching for her robe to cover her night grown. She grabbed the lamp before walking through the otherwise unlit bedroom into the small sitting-room to open the door to her quarters.

The door squeaked a little before it allowed her the first glimpse of her visitor. Dressed in a dark brown gambeson instead of his usual plate armor stood Aldelbert Steiner, founder and leader of the Knights of Pluto.

She'd been expecting him.

"Hello there, stranger," she whispered, only loud enough for him to hear,"would you like to come in?"

The man nodded and she stepped aside to make room for him before carefully closing the door. Their little meetings had been going on for several months now, and thus far they had managed to keep them a secret – which was quiet an accomplishment considering the masses of people working and living inside the castle walls. The general intended to keep it that way.

"Beatrix, we need to talk." he said in a serious tone before she'd had the chance to turn to him. It worried her since talking usually wasn't that high on his agenda during the first hour of his visits. "We... I can't let this go on, it is wrong." he added.

Beatrix busied herself with the door's lock and she suppressed a sigh as she struggled slightly to retain her compose. She had always known this would happen one of these days. Their understanding of honor and morality was mostly congruent, except when it came to this one – hitherto blissfully ignored – point regarding their unorthodox relationship.

He held a strong believe in upholding the rules normal couples followed to uphold the 'family honor' – an ideology she couldn't understand.

First off, they were no ordinary people, but military officers who knew what a fleeting thing life could be, in addition to the fact that she doubted there had ever been enough honor in her heritage to make such a great fuss about it. Her father had disowned his 'substitute son' after she had refused to be called by his surname once she had outgrown the position as Captain, outranking his old position as Major Beatrix.

In her opinion it was enough for them to be two grown, reasonable adults who enjoyed their alone-time.

When she didn't react to his words, the knight went to her and encircled her shoulders loosely with his bare arms, deliberately keeping a small distance between her back and his chest.

"A woman of your beauty, skill and intellect deserves better than this meetings in the middle of the night." Beatrix smiled deploringly at his words. Even now he tried to make her feel better, a caring side he'd never show to his inferiors.

"I spoke to the queen today," she nodded as a sign that she was listening,"about us."

She stiffened.

* * *

"Hey Dagger?"

"Hm-m?" she didn't look up from the report about the estimated amount of taxes she'd receive from the southern regions of her kingdom before summer's end, writing down long rows of numbers.

The former monarchs had always depended entirely on their financial council to manage their income, but the new queen felt the need to know as much as possible about the many aspects of ruling her people. Plus it was less likely for her financiers to 'loose track' of some of the money if she was involved this closely.

She had tried to introduce Zidane to some of the more interesting subjects her office had to offer at the moment, but found it very difficult since his buoyant nature didn't allow him to sit still for longer periods of time. But she didn't mind too much, since he had already worked through Vivi's reports of the Black Mages' Village. Which had left them both crestfallen since – while the monster attacks decreased and the trade with other nations flourished – they realized that their friend was the last surviving Black Mage, apart from those who had been born over the last year.

Still, everything concerning the Genomes in general and Oeil Vert in particular, was a sore topic with him and therefore up to Mikoto, whenever she found time to write reports between her apprenticeship, archery lessons and spending time with Dr. Tot to learn more about her new home-planet. Garnet wondered from time to time how it was possible that his relationship to his 'little sister' had improved so much, while he seemed to be repelled by the other Terrans.

"What was Rusty all smiles about yesterday?" he sat at the window, one leg drawn up to his chest while the other dangled over the sill, his tail swishing lazy shapes against the stone wall, trying not to show his boredom by observing the daily training drills of the castle guards.

"He sought my permission and I granted his request." she replied, nose still buried in the scroll.

"Permission to strangle me if I mess up in the next meeting?"

"No,"the dry tone that indicated he was only half joking made her laugh, forgetting all about her calculations,"he asked me for Beatrix's hand."

He looked at her wide eyed. "Why would he do that? I mean they're like... twice our age. Even so, aren't ya supposed to ask the bride's father and not her employer?"

She nodded before positioning herself on the opposite side of the windowsill, their feed touching. "Traditionally, yes. But since she joined my personal guards, it is my right to decide about this matter. Besides, she isn't as old as you might think, she's not even in her thirties."

"And what was he smiling about earlier this morning?"

Dagger stared at him in disbelief. The man in front of her was able to spot a monster from a mile away, but was completely oblivious whenever it came to this kind of things. "Well, I guess she accepted."

"Really? Could've fooled me." he pointed at the pair at the sidelines of the training ground, maintaining a distance that was considered proper for their difference in authority. It looked like they were discussing guard schedules, every once in a while shouting at individual knights to keep up with the group.

Garnet tilted her head to the side, unsure what to make out of the situation.

* * *

"So, how did your talk with that pesky monkey go?" Nathan greeted him upon entering the light flooded room of his home. The young adult leaned casually against a heavy dresser, cleaning his nails with a short knife.

"He refused."

"What a pity." the young man didn't care enough to look up. He knew his 'father' had always another plan up his sleeve. "What's our next step?"

"I am sure you will like it." Lord de Lairén grinned, which coaxed his protege to look up. "He is still ignorant of how unstable his new position is. One scandal could cost him everything." he closed the distance between them, whispering in the youngster's ear,"Make sure to woo this sister of his, but be careful: she is a feisty one."

"Don't worry, a girl with the ability to resist my charm hasn't been born yet." he flashed a smile, thinking of all his successful conquests ranking from innocent peasant girls to the most astute wives of noblemen.

"Good. Make sure to lay with her as soon as possibly. Once the chit is expecting your bastard, this mongrel will be begging me to accept her as my daughter-in-law." the vicious gleam in his eyes was mirrored in amethyst one's.

"Only this time, we'll call the shots!"

* * *

**Reviews please! ^_^**


	19. Duties

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 18 – Duties

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi there!

I'm sorry for the long wait :( Writer's block stinks... But I'm back again and motivated to write the next chapters (and to finally get to some action :D )

Thanks to my wonder reviewers Clement Rage, Kyubi-Emz-Chan and Fruity-Fruit-Cups.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

"Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles, and kindnesses."

* * *

The morning broke early today.

Too early for his taste.

The sound of two arguing voices drifted to his hears from somewhere in the community area – nothing too unusual in a house with so many different characters.

Blank sighed as he ran his fingers through tangled flicks of hair, letting his cool palm rest pleasantly on his forehead.

"What a night..." he groaned into his blanket.

The group had pulled off an assignment, that had been rewarded quite nicely. Which had had to be celebrated properly - properly enough that he couldn't quite remember when – or how – they had made it back to the head quarter.

Feeling too lazy and heavy from sleep to get up, he decided to stay put and to – attempt to- ignore the ongoing ruckus downstairs. On the ceiling – directly over his head – hung a small spiderweb, where a fat spider was sluggishly wrapping a frantically twitching fly into a flexible coffin.

Nature really sucked when you were born into the small-fly fraction.

On that happy note, he led himself slide – heels first – off the top-bunk and landed in a small crouch. After the world had stopped spinning around him, he grabbed the belt he had thrown onto the vacant bed underneath his own. The bunk had once belonged to Zidane, but since he no longer needed it, and no one else possessed enough morning enthusiasm to cope with the usually grouchy redhead, the mattress served now as an additional storage space.

Yawning, he stepped out in the doorway - eyes protesting against the bright sunlight – still dressed in yesterday's cloths. The voices were much louder out out here, but didn't quite drown out the thundering snores from down the hall, which was good and Blank intended to make sure it stayed that way. If they woke Boss, it was bad news for everyone.

He went down the corkscrew stairway, made his way through the chaotic living room with sleepwalker's ease and hesitated – for a moment - in front of the kitchen door.

The bickering continued inside.

"Just give me that damn thing!"

"No-o!"

Blank walked into the small stereotypical bachelor kitchen with its questionable storage coordination, mismatched plates and cups, as well as the minimal cleanliness that prevented food poisoning. Ignoring the pair, he helped himself to a big mug of cold coffee. As Blank turned, he realized that it had become awfully quiet.

Placing the mug on the table, casually stepping between an obviously angry moogle – who was upset enough to forget the typical 'kupo' at the end of his refusal – and Brunce, a brown haired teenager who looked like he was about to strangle the small puff-ball at any second.

"Meeki, 'haven't seen you in a while." the read haired man greeted the little white creature while squeezing the juice of half a lemon into the dark brown liquid, before deciding, that just wouldn't be enough for a day like this and added the other half as well.

"I've been very, VERY busy, kupo!" the moogle stated, straightening up to his full height – which wasn't all to impressive, not even for a moogle. "Soooo many letters to be delivered from and to Alexandria, kupo."

"So I have heard." the redhead agreed. Who hadn't? The Queen's betrothal to a commoner-turned-king was in everybody's ear, not that this sorry excuse of a friend had bothered to tell his old gang about it. But this was probably the reason Meeki stood – quite decoratively – on the kitchen table.

"You want some breakfast?"

"Sure, kupo!" two black bottom eyes beamed at the older Tantalus.

Brunce's muttering, which sounded suspiciously like 'rat poison, top shelf to the right' went unheard and he burrowed his aching head back into his folded arms on the table.

Two pancakes and a big cup of honey milk later, the little mail-man leaned back on one paw, stoking his rounded belly contentedly with the other.

"Oh, I have a few letters for you, kupo. I don't like that one," a sirup covered paw pointed in the vague direction of the brunet boy, who looked to be ready to turn the furry creature into lunch,"but I'll give them to you, kupo." he teetered – slightly off balance from his full stomach – towards a backpack, about twice his size in every dimension, fishing four parchment rolls out of the remaining pile.

Blank sorted the letters. One was addressed to '_Uncle B._' - declaring it to be a 'business-letter' for Baku; one just said '_Tantalus_' in a painted-like handwriting the man identified instantly as Zidane's ("About time", he thought) and two had the very helpful declaration '_B._'.

The later were both written in fine feminine handwritings, so he gave one to Brunce – who looked up from his hunched over position on the table and was unable to prevent a soft 'Lucy' from passing his lips.

The letter Blank kept for himself was from Ruby, for no one else he knew would bother to perfume a letter.

"Stupid, lazy moogle!" the dark haired boy declared bad-tempered as he watched said creature take a hurried step out of the window. He fell like a rock at first, remembering his fly-ability only a few inches before hitting the ground and slowly increased in height, before he vanished into one of Lindblum's many side alleys.

"This letter is more than two months old!"

Blank looked at his coffee.

Brunce wasn't usually the rude or even aggressive type. Normally his present was quite pleasant because – despite his youthful over-exuberant behavior** - **he showed a remarkable matureness when the situation called for it.

But his temper had changed ever since Lucilla's engagement. The actual wedding had been postponed due to her sister-in-law's difficult pregnancy and some 'issues' concerning the dowry and bride-wealth.

"Here," he placed the mug in front of the youngster and a hard hand on his shoulder,"you better get over the hangover before Boss gets up, or he'll make your day even worse."

Brunce grimaced. "Ya know, you could just give me some of that stuff you make for him."

The man grinned painfully, "No chance, not even I am allowed to use it."

The remedy that was known as 'I don't deserve it' had been an accidental invention from Blank's youth to help (and a little humiliate) his Tantalus bothers whenever they had had 'one over the eight' the previous night. But due to the decrease in discipline, Baku had declared the concoction as his personal privilege. Since then the boss ordered a couple of bottles every few weeks and stocked them in his closet – no doubt aware of the mysterious shrinking pile. They all hoped heaven and hell had mercy on the one who would get caught one of those days...

* * *

It was market-day in Alexandria, and despite the early hour – just past sunrise – there was a large crowd of merchants, servants and housewives gathering in the capital's streets.

Since the palace's kitchen staff cared for their meals, the old healer and her apprentice ignored most of the food stalls and headed towards a dubious looking booth that was just visible behind two carts.

A gray bearded man gave his customer – a young teenage boy – some last advise about the potion he'd just paid for.

"Just remember to take one sip first thing in the morning you will be a happy man."

Melissa stepped closer.

"Quacksalver like you are the reason people like me have a hard time being taken seriously." she chided sternly.

"Who dares..." the round belly-ed man turned around to face the voice to start a lecture, as he recognized the new arrivals,"Oh, it's just you, Mel." his face lit up even more as he saw the person behind her,"And the young Miss Mikoto as well, what a nice surprise! 'A beauty at dawn and all your worries are gone', that's what they say." he chuckled while the young woman nodded in greeting.

"Stop flirting, it's no use. She's out of your league."

"Aha! One of the nobles, she is. How high?" he asked, unfazed by the healers hard rebuff.

"None of your business. What did you sell that poor boy? Another one of your 'love potions'?"

"Indeed."

"I am sure the women will love the effect violet colored honey water will have on him."

The merchant grinned at her dry reply and nodded. He was probably the only one who could crown himself with the fact of teaching the art of make-believe to the palace medic.

"But it sure had a lovely color."

* * *

After they had found all the items that needed to be restocked, Melissa decided to buy some some food as well.

"Treating a patient's symptoms isn't enough," she told her apprentice as she checked the ripeness of an apple with her fingertips,"you have to look at him from all sides. Sometimes a mother cannot heal because she is constantly worrying for her children. It takes time, experience and something I call the 'heart of a caregiver'. The first enables you to see this kind of things; the second helps you realize if there are things that you can do. But only the last aspect makes you willing to change something in another's life."

On their way back to the palace, the healer prompted her apprentice to tell her the first herb she thought of.

Mikoto nodded as she held her basket higher, out of reach of an oncoming mischievous looking boy who had eyed it with the vacuous expression of an experienced pick-pocket for some time now.

"Abscess."

"Equisetum arvense; Horsetails."

"Delayed wound healing."

"Arnica montana; Mountain arnica."

"Respiratory infection."

"Thymus vulgaris; Thyme."

"Depression."

"Hypericum perforatum; St Johns Wort."

"Oh? Why not Valerian?"

"That would be my second choice. But the former is more effective because it alleviates many different symptoms at once, such as nervousness, insomnia, muscle pains, fever and head aches. The patient becomes more relaxed and is able to concentrate on the positive aspects of life."

Melissa nodded her approval. It seems her student had taken her studies seriously and was ready for the next step. "I want you to accompany me today."

"Thank you." Mikoto replied with a small but true smile.

Ever since the white haired healer had accepted her as an apprentice, she had been studying inside the castle. She was now experienced in all aspects of herbology: raising and caring for the plants, the precise regulations of harvest and preservation, as well as the production of the most commonly used concoctions that didn't involve magic or any 'magic touched' ingredients.

This would be the first time Melissa allowed her to observe the actual work of a healer.

* * *

"Ya shoul'da seen that gal talkin'! A full room of stuck up menfolk, stunned into silence by 'er!"

Blank chuckled as he read Ruby's letter, getting affected by the excitement the woman had felt as she'd written those lines some two and a half moons ago.

He tried to picture the quiet blond girl in the situation the actress described. Ruby – along with several servants – had witnessed the 'private' meeting from an old guard station, which allowed stealthy observations of the room by removing small portions of a large painting.

"Ta bad she's already occupied, 'cause I think I woulda found me ma' new star."

Another smile.

The part-time Tantalus was nagging constantly about the Prima Donna-ish behavior of her staff, which was kinda ironic since Blank remembered her dong the same things not too long ago herself. But no one had ever blamed her for it. As the only female inside the 'inner circle' she'd very soon acquired the 'little sister status', which meant she could do pretty much anything she wanted without facing consequences.

The thing he loved most about her was that – despite all the spoiling the group had done – she had stayed true to her nature.

The smell of her perfume made him realize how long he hadn't seen her and that he probably wouldn't until Zidane's wedding about six months from now. Boss negotiated with some cities on the Northern Continent and didn't anticipate any business in Alexandria that would need his personal attendance.

After he finished, he put the letter into a box underneath the bottom bunk where he stored his keepsakes.

* * *

They had reached a part of Alexandria's Caste Town Mikoto had never seen before. The houses were narrow and warped, which made it look like the upper levels tried to escape into the river arm underneath. Solid cobble stone streets had made way to worn wooden planks.

"This place used to look a lot worse, back when I stranded in this city."

The blond looked up at her teacher, before turning her attention back to the sight of the slum, unable to imagine any worse surrounding. But then again, she hadn't seen much material poverty in her life, at least not the kind that forced human beings to live worse than animals.

"There are many places were poverty is a much bigger problem, but either it is ignored – like in Treno, where the poor are simply kept out of view from the rich nobles – or there is just too much of it to deal with it on a big scale, like in Lindblum." Melissa sighed, as she often did when she spoke of her old home, which had experienced too much growth in too little time.

"Hand me the basket please."

The blond did as she was told. It contained most of the medical-unrelated goods they had bought at the market that morning. The food was covered with a dark cloth but was still hidden quickly under her master's cloak. A snake biting it's own tail – the symbol of infinity – adored the neckline and worked as the neck fastener, identifying its owner as a fully recognized non-magical healer.

"Ah, here we are." the woman declared and knocked on a make-shift door.

The shouting of children could be heard, followed by a stampede of light feet.

A young boy with unruly hair and a dirt covered face opened the door and bowed deeply as he recognized the healer. The white cloaked lady had visited his home several times before, ever since his youngest brother had fallen ill three weeks ago.

His eyes grew big and longing as a delicious smelling basket was pressed into his arms. He bowed once more and lead the two visitors through the main room - where his younger brothers and sisters stood close to a small fire, preparing the hot water the old woman would ask for shortly – to a small back room. There he showed the present eagerly to a pale woman in her mid twenties, who smiled at him lovingly, before painfully raising from her laying position, displaying a very round stomach.

"Lady Melissa, the gods bless you for your kindness." she said in a humble yet tired voice. Despite her age, she looked weary and dauntingly, holding a red faced, whining infant in her meager arms.

"Kaya, this is my assistant Mikoto." Kaya smiled at the girl and offered her a deep bow as well.

Healers – even more than White Mages – were considered highly respectable for they brought health and hope to the people at the risk of their own lives. They had been seen close to never in this district before the current Queen had shown interest in all her people including the poor – unlike numerous of her predecessor - and supported those who needed her the most.

"How has he been?" Melissa asked as she inspected the child.

"The fever went up again last night and I can't get it down. He's just crying and crying since he woke up this morning." the young mother replied.

"I need some hot water and the leaves I left you last time I visited." she took the child in her own arms. The illness had reduced his weight further, but he was still strong enough for her to give him a realistic chance of recovery – if the living situation did not worsen.

"I'll get the leafs. Thomas," the young boy who'd opened the door earlier entered the door, already carrying a battered copper-pot with both arms. Steaming water splattered to the ground in small drops and splashes.

"Sit down, Mikoto." Melissa pointed at a patchwork blanket on the floor near the wall. The hot water was placed in front of her before the child was placed into her lap. Unsure what to do – since she had never been confronted with the situation of holding an infant before – she looked at the healer. The old woman looked surprised how awkward the younger one handle the fidgeting toddler. There had never been a girl who didn't know how to – at the very least – hold a child.

After a few readjustments the boy was secured and the treatment began. A clean cloth covered the two humans as well as the still steaming pot which contained the water as well as some strong smelling herbs.

While the two adults discussed the further treatments, Mikoto felt the child relax until his little head dropped against his chest and his breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

"Take a deep breath. Hold it. And breath out slowly." the healer's voice was quiet as she listened to the soft rattling sound the air made in Kaya's lungs.

"I need you to hold your son like my apprentice does three times a day, until the water turns cold" she said as she took the cover off of the girl's head.

The coldness outside the small tent made Mikoto shudder.

"The leaves have to be thrown away afterwards, but make sure that everyone in the house drinks from the water." she took the toddler and gave him to his mother, amazed by his deep slumber. Patients with this kind of conditions rarely slept and if they did it was very lightly.

They walked back in silence, cloaks drawn closely to their bodies to keep the cold winter air out.

"Do you remember what I told you about being holistic while treating a patient?"

"The 'heart of a caregiver'?"

"Yes. Now, tell me about this family."

Mikoto thought for a moment.

"The boy is not as ill as the mother, but she dos not want to be treated while her son is still sick. There is no sign of a husband inside the house..." she looked questioningly at Melissa, who nodded.

"He left six months ago."

"Which means Kaya is responsible for the six children she has, as well as the one she is expecting. The inhalational treatment is more for her than the child, since she wouldn't accept it otherwise. But this way, she will not recover, will she?"

"No, I don't think she will, there is nothing left for me to do." Melissa sighed sadly,"I spoke with the orphanage's warden a few days back. She agreed to take the small children in until they turn seven."

"What will become of Thomas?"

"He's too old for an orphanage. He will have to take care of himself. If he makes it through the winter he'll be fine." the 'if' was more than evident in her tone.

"There is an open spot as stable boy." Mikoto remembered.

The old woman smiled at the blond warmly,"This is why I accepted you as my apprentice, my dear. You possess the quality that upgrades an educated healer to a good one."

The irony of the situation didn't went unnoticed by the genome. Garland had once created her to be a caretaker to his creations – only one in particular at first. He had even bothered to name her (despite the fact that it was more a label than a name, since 'mikoto' was nothing more than the Terran word for 'caregiver'). And now she used her abilities to care for a handful of the people he had planned to destroy – neglecting the care of her kin.

Whereas the later was actually forced on her and struck her with guild and unease.

* * *

"This is ridiculous!"

Garnet looked up from her book and across the room where Zidane sat near the darkening window.

He had been mumbling unkind things into his non-existing beard for some time now. Taking the small outburst as a sign that he was ready to be consulted, she rose from her studies and – candle in hand - walked to his armchair, where the young man launched with his back against one armrest, legs dangling over the other.

The light of the small flame danced across the parchment on his lap, as she stood behind him and stroke his golden hair, which had gotten darker and quite long over the months he'd spent within the castle. While he leaned into her touch, resting his head against her stomach, Garnet scanned over the text that had angered him and sighed.

It was another report about the rumors Ruby had come across during the last weeks. Zidane had asked her to write them down for him to be able to keep track of the direction the gossip was heading. "Rumors can be your best allies or worst enemies," he had told his fiancé after she'd stumbled across one of those letters several weeks ago,"and it's important to know what other people 'think' they know about you."

Reading the newest statements made her frown. Sometimes she was awed by the creativity and details involved, but what really worried her were those that were too close to the truth to be mere babble-mouth's talk. Some even drew connections between her fiancé and the less known events from almost four years ago.

The last one on the page had it, that Zidane used to visit the castle secretly ever since the former king's death - disguised with a long, violet wig.

The queen swallowed hard.

She had no idea who might have seen Kuja during his visits - or why they would even try to make a connection between those two.

Looking down on her beloved's face – eyes closed and an appreciative smile playing on his lips – she couldn't fail to notice that, the more he lost the last last bits of boyishness, the more he began to resemble the man in question, the one who had driven her mother mad and engaged the whole continent in an useless war.

'Don't even think like this!' she chided herself, scattering her former thoughts,'Zidane is nothing like Kuja. Their similarities start and end with minor details regarding outward appearance.'

It was true. All Genomes – due to the way they came to be – resembled each other with their lean and fine-boned build, limber (almost cat-like) movements, facial features and unusual eyes.

Unusual blue-green eyes that looked right into her own, trying to decipher what thoughts caused her to frown.

Garnet just shook her head, smiled and planted a quick kiss on his nose-tip – successfully distracting both of them from their thoughts.

Thoughts that were entirely forgotten by the time he pulled her on his lap and captured her rosy lips passionately with his own.

* * *

Reviews please ^_^

and to those who didn't review before: it's never to late to start showing some appreciation ;)


	20. Countdown

**Content**

Author's Note

Disclaimer

Chapter 19 – Countdown

* * *

**Author's Note**

Huhu^.^

I'm back with an update! :D

This is the last 'preparative chapter', which means we'll see the first wave of action (and plot *****drop*****) in the next chapter!

Big virtual huggs go to: Fruity-Fruit-Cups, Kyubi-Emz-Chan and animegamergirl (Welcome^^) for their supportive and helpful reviews

* * *

**Disclaimer**

All hail Square Soft/Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 19 - Countdown**

"_If we had a countdown timer on our lives, we wouldn't waste a minute._"

F. Sedgwick

* * *

"Time is running short, Nathan. And what have you accomplished thus far? Nothing!"

"It's not that easy. That Captain – and especially General Beatrix - won't let me anywhere near her as long as my name isn't officially on that damn list!"

"If this should be all that is hindering you, so be assured that I – once again – have taken things into my own hands. It will probably gladden you also, that the General has taken an unexplained leave of absence. Rumor has it that her 'condition' won't let her return on duty anytime soon."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes. But you better hurry to catch our little canary, I have heard the names on her list are quite numerous."

Nathan nodded and turned to leave. He had just laid a hand on the doorknob before he heard the elder's voice cautioning him once more.

"Time is getting short, do not fail me. I would hate to see you being involved in an tragical accident like my son was."

Nathan's back straightened but his violet eyes flashed dangerously.

"I won't." he replied before he left the room, without turning towards the old man.

Lord de Lairen leaned back in his armchair, pressed the fingertips of his widespread hands together and smiled into the chimney fire.

* * *

"What is this?"

Garnet rolled her eyes at his cluelessness behavior regarding the parchment in his hands.

"The list I talked to you about yesterday. The one regarding Mikoto's official suitors."

"She's too young!" Zidane put the paper roughly on the ground next to him.

"What would be a proper age, in your opinion?" she was trying very hard to keep the raising impatience out of her voice, but they had had this kind of conversations a lot lately.

"How about... never?"

"Zidane..." the young woman was rubbing her temples,"We went through this before. Fifteen is the latest we can go without raising unwanted attention. You even agreed that it could give her the will to stay here instead of returning to Oeil Vert."

"Was this before 'Financial History', 'Proper Etiquette', 'Politic relations', 'Governmental Skills' and 'Trade development since 1223' or after?" he knew his tone was too harsh, but things started to get over his head, while he could just sit and wait instead of putting up a fight and fight them - a situation way out of his comfort zone.

Chocolate colored eyes looked deeply into his, until he couldn't stand it any longer. He looked away and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Dagger. It's just... I'm trying really hard, I really do. And I know I can handle it, as long as it's just about myself. Deciding something this huge for someone else isn't the same."

"I know, but you'll learn to make decisions for others. You already did that in the past. For example when you brought the Genomes to Gaia and it worked out just fine." Garnet saw that he was about to protest (probably about to tell her this was incommensurable) and continued,"Why don't we look through the list together, hm? I'm sure I know at least some of them." the soft tone of her voice – accompanied by wide held eyes (she knew he couldn't deny her anything when she did this) left him no choice but to agree.

"Fine. Who's on there?"

She smiled and took a seat across from him on the library's carpet.

"de Aolin, John." her brows narrowed, which – in return – peaked the blond's interest.

"What about him?"

"He is an old man. I think he was already on my grandmother's list."

Zidane's face turned into a grimace of disgust. "Yuck!"

She crossed the name out and made a note to have a message delivered to the rejected bachelor.

The next names didn't raise any attention to themselves, neither positive nor negative.

"de Monique, Laksmono."

"Not him."

"Why not, do you know him?"

"No, but come on, that's a terrible name!" Zidane grinned.

Garnet frowned. Surely he couldn't be serious... right? She raised a single eyebrow and looked at him challengingly.

"And yours is any better?"

She was teasing and he knew it – which still didn't keep a fake-huffy tone out of his voice.

"At least mine means something."

"What does it mean?" she was truly curious now. She had never thought about it before.

"Hope."

She looked at him and smiled, missing neither the importance nor the irony in his revelation. The person who had been designed to destroy Gaia and bring hope to Terra had done the exact opposite. For a short moment she wondered what Kuja's name had meant, but was afraid to touch the topic.

Zidane flashed her a goofy grin.

She suppressed a giggle and continued. "He'll still stay on the list until you come up with a better reason why he shouldn't. Let's see, the next one is... 'de Lairén, Nathan'."

"He's that creep's son, isn't he?"

"Well, not entirely. Lord de Lairén is only related to him through marriage. He married widow Marcia about two years after his wife and son died in a fire. Since he had reached a certain age – as had his wife – he declared her son as his heir. Mr. Nathan is a very nice man. Gentle, literate and handsome. I think Mikoto might even like him."

"Hm." he didn't sound convinced at all.

* * *

As Blank made his way through the heavily guarded main gate of Alexandria's capital, he had to fight hard against his instincts in order to stay calm and unsuspicious in front of the officers. Years and years of running and hiding from the law enforcement had made him jumpy every time he saw an uniform. On the other hand, there was little to be afraid of with the royal seal on his entry clearance.

"Do you wish an escort to the castle, Sir?" asked a man with heavy bags under his eyes and a full plate armor respectfully.

_Yeah, like anyone could miss something as huge as the castle_, he thought with announce, but assured the soldier nicely he'd be fine on his own.

Breathing the clear air of the small town, that was so different from Lindblum, erased the last bit of tension from his body. In high spirit, he made his way through the sunny, snow covered streets to find a certain 'Bar and Theater'.

He entered the familiar alley, went down the small flight of stairs and turned the door knob.

And was met with a locked door.

Suddenly he realized Ruby wouldn't expect his visit for another two or three weeks from now, since the crew had planned to arrive together to not miss their bro's wedding – or more truthfully, his stag-night.

Since it was just past noon and the premises wouldn't open up until dusk, he decided to find an other way in – not that a locked door would be much of a challenge, but he didn't feel like being on the receiving end of Ruby's tongue-lashing just yet. That would happen sooner or later anyway.

The first story window was conveniently left open.

He grinned. She should know better than that.

With the elegance of an expert, he used every crack and nook in the wall to reach the 'entrance' swiftly, without getting noticed by the nearing beadle who yawned whole-heart-fully but seemed to be more interested in the pretty shopkeeper next door anyway.

The room he found himself in was undeniably Ruby's bedroom. Shoes, scarfs and pieces of parchment littered the floor while several outfits and costumes were thrown carelessly over the unmade bed, small couch and pretty much everywhere else. The only place that looked tidy was her dressing table.

Blank chuckled. With her sophisticated manner and scrutiny about her appearance, it was easy to forget that she was just about as chaotic as any other Tantalus.

He left the room and made his way downstairs – avoiding the squeaking steps – and put his head through the open door, which lead to the stage-room. Where he found Ruby and Zidane, who tested if the scene that had just written down on one of the many papers on a nearby table, would look right on stage.

"Hi Bank." the blond greeted him without turning to the new arrival, while Ruby – who obviously hadn't noticed their audience before – looked slightly startled. There was just no way to sneak up on the tailed guy.

As Zidane made his way off the platform, he noticed the kind of crooked smirk on the other's face, that promised either pain or humiliation, making him weary despite the joy of seeing his bro again after more than eight months.

As they were about to exchange a friendly hug, the older man suddenly switched into a perfected bow, which would have made those etiquette tutors Garnet had sent after her fiancé tear up with satisfaction.

"It is a great honor to stand in thy presence, oh your kingly-ness of the western lands." the redhead declared mockingly.

Ruby laughed lustily as she went over to the pair, giving Blank a bone crushing hug. She had missed him dearly.

"Cut it off, will ya?" Zidane countered, ignoring Ruby for the time being,"I'm still the same, nothing changed!"

He hated all the fuss people made about him just because of a title Mikoto had made up in a moment's notice. Well, 'made up' was putting it too extreme, since she hadn't lied – she never did. He had been 'born' superior to his kin. People had just assumed this included royalty and also that Oeil Vert was a powerful and therefore indispensable ally – it was just that no one had cared enough to correct their assumptions.

* * *

The sun had just lost its daily fight against the twin moons, which would merge into the 'Spring Bloodmoon' soon.

Zidane had excused himself earlier and asked his friend to meet him at the castle after his meeting. It turned out said meeting was more time-consuming than predicted, so the man decided to take a walk in the lighted garden. He hadn't gone far when he heard a voice calling out to him.

"Blank!" the man in question turned surprised to the girl, who hurried through the snow in his direction, without really running. Except he did not find the girl he had expected.

Last time he had seen Mikoto, she was a cute little girl who looked somewhat lost outside her homeland. But now – he couldn't believe only a year had passed – she had changed a lot. It was less a change in physical appearance – which was all but hidden behind her winter attire anyway - but the way she held herself: confident and gracefully.

She was dressed in fur-lined leather gloves and a heavy-looking hooded wool-coat, which made her look rather shapeless. Apparently she was just as much of an icicle as her brother.

He smiled and waved at her.

"Will you walk with me?" she asked slightly out of breath and took his arm before he even had a chance to offered it to her.

He raised an eyebrow and looked behind her, only to see the last glimpse of a retreating man dressed in a long, dark violet cape. Blank hadn't had a chance to see the other's face, but something about the stranger's aura created a big twist in his guts.

"Who is that creep?"

"One of my suitors." she sighed and gave a humorless laugh, pretty much summing up what she thought about the whole matter,"He tries persistently to get me to talk with him in private. How was your trip?" she asked.

She knew he must have come with the mountain railway, an Gaian invention she had read about and which's simplicity – compared to the Terran technology from several thousand years ago - had caught her interest.

The quick change in topic and mood made him laugh. It reminded him of their shared trip from Lindblum to Alexandria, only that she somehow seemed more alive than before.

After he had told her the most interesting events of his journey – including a more or less successful description of how it felt when the railroad's cable turned out to have frozen over on the way down – the subject changed to Mikoto's work.

The young woman was surprised how knowledgeable her interlocutor was when it came to herbs and potion making.

"I wasn't very interested in medicine at first, but since out group didn't have a first-aid-medic, it kinda became my responsibility."

_Being what the community needs most_, Mikoto thought. This was a concept she could easily relate to. Zidane had taken her to Oeil Vert not two weeks ago, but the feeling of abandoning her responsibilities of taking care of the Genomes had returned as soon as the air ship had left the Western Continent. The group occupying the old Terran heritage had decrease by two more vessels during her absence, which had angered Garland's second Angle of death greatly. He claimed that this wouldn't have happened if the Genomes would care more about their surroundings and each other. Mikoto didn't see his point. What was the benefit of such a behavior for those vessels? They had become useless, now that they would never house the Terran souls.

"I started to like the whole concept of portion making later on."

Mikoto's thoughts returned to the conversation and she wondered why Baku apparently hadn't sent him to a mentor. She already knew that every Tantalus had had to learn a respectable profession, even Zidane.

The pair had ventured back into the castle and - absorbed in their conversation - hadn't noticed that they had left the more populated areas as they neared a tower that was mostly used for storage reasons.

They turned the corner leading the the rooms that were reserved for the palace medics when a white cloaked figure crossed their way.

"Good evening, Master." the young woman greeted her elder.

"Good evening, Mikoto." Melissa relied with a smile,"And who is this young man keeping you company?"

"Good evening, Royal-Healer Melissa. My name is B. Chestnut, I'm a friend of Mr. Tribal. I am honored to meet you. I have heard so many good things about you." he offered her a respectful bow.

The white haired woman nodded in acknowledgment. It also hadn't escaped her notice that this was the first time she had seen her pupil so relaxed in the company of one of her suitors - as she assumed the young man to be.

"Where are you heading to?"

"The craft brewery." the blond answered.

Melissa raised her eyebrows slightly. "You are knowledgeable of the art of medical brewing?" she directed her attention back to the man. Many young people had lost the interest and respect for the old ways.

"Only the basics, I'm afraid." he answered honestly.

"Very well. Mikoto, you may show him your herb chamber. I will let your brother know where you are."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Status of Project DC?" the mechanical voice echoed in the dark hall.

"Stage 1: Prepared.

Stage 1: Started.

Stage 1: Run.

Stage 1: Completed.

Stage 2: Prepared.

Stage 2: Pending." an equal monotonous voice reported.

"Start countdown of Project DC."

"Countdown set.

Countdown started.

Project active in 08:04:13:09.

Dream Catcher active simultaneously to Lunar Merge."

* * *

Reviews please! :D


	21. Somnolence

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 20 – Somnolence

* * *

**Author's Note**

Wow, chapter 20 already O.O

Readers: you are awesome! At least those who reviewed (Clement Rage, Fruity-Fruit-Cups, animegamergirl, Kyubi-Emz-Chan), since I didn't get the chance to get to know those who didn't (maybe I'll hear from you soon?)

I added the link of a sketch of an slightly older Mikoto (done by AngelBless) to my profile page.

PS: Just a little side note: I can't dance (except for Disco Fox). Therefore all (real) dances in this FF are done by theoretical research. Just to let you know ^_^"

PPS: Hey Kyubi... what was that about 'being careful with word repetitions'? XD

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 20** – Somnolence

"Cats are rather delicate creatures and they are subject to a good many ailments, but I never heard of one who suffered from insomnia."

J.W. Krutch

* * *

"No,no,no,no!"

Zidane groaned. He really started to hate this two letter word.

"My Queen, you are not the one leading. He is." Mr. Stepford, the dance instructor, complained in his usual slow and suspiciously high voice, that still made the words appear to flow into each other.

For hours he had drilled the step sequence into the young man before him - with only mild results, and now the young woman started to call the shots on the dance floor. In the man's eyes, this was a disaster!

"Switch!"

Glumly the blond man released his hold on his soon-to-be-wife and walked over to stand in front of his sister, who was just as new to this whole ordeal, but – somehow - received far less reproach-speeches from the perfectionist tutor than he did.

"How comes that you are better in this than I am?" he asked sulking-ly as he tried to find the right beat in the music to get started.

"'It's all in the leading.'" she quoted Mr. Stepford's constant reminder.

Her wisdom still only earned her an irritated eyes rolling from her partner.

It was still true. Dancing was pretty easy, if the man who knew how to do his job.

If.

_Slow, left back, turn slightly - _

_Right small step to the side, turn -_

_Left next to right, slight turn –_

_Slow, right forward, slight turn –_

_Left big step forward, turn -_

_Right next to left, slight turn –_

_Slow, left back -_

_Slow, right back_, she thought his steps at him as he had finally found the right rhythm to begin the eight-beat-waltz.

Garnet watched the pair while her feet automatically responded to her dance partner's lead.

"How is it, that you can dance and he cannot?" she asked quietly.

It seems her fiance's best man had tagged along for entertainment purposes only. If most nobles she had been forced to dance with in her life had had only half the amount of tact sense he possessed, her toes would have received much less damage.

Blank's response was something between a resigned sigh and a chuckle, as he lead her into a fancy spin.

"Ruby 'convinced' me to be her guinea-moo when she started to take lessons." he confessed with a wink and flashed a crooked grin.

Having had the chance to get to know the eccentric actress a little more, Garnet figured that 'forced' would have been a proper substitute for 'convinced'. She chuckled.

Mr. Stepford clapped his hands two times, the music ended and the dancers stopped.

"Miss Tribal, Lord Tribal, please come over here." he called out. As everyone was grouped together again, he continued. "Start position, please." his request was directed to the young queen.

The instructor frowned at the pair, then at the future Prince Consort at the sidelines, before laying a hand on the woman's red-haired partner's lower back and pushed him a little, to close the distance between their bodies. His other hand swiftly put a large piece of rice-paper between them.

"The Waltz has to be danced closely. Close enough to hold a piece of paper."

The music started and the dance began anew. "Forward Waltz, please."

The brunette blushed slightly, fixing her gaze on the open window as she rhythmically stepped closer and farther away from it.

She knew – if it had been anyone else than her kinda/sorta future brother-in-law – Zidane would have made sure their tutor had had - pretty much exactly - three stories worth of time to practice his flying abilities.

* * *

There he was again, staring up at the tower, hidden by the late afternoon dusk.

The ominous feeling of threat Blank had felt the first time he laid eye on this particular suitor of Mikoto's, returned.

Having learned to rust his instincts, he turned his back on the window and went back to the blond girl, who seemed to be about done with chopping the necessary ingredients for the Soft-Potion he was going to show her today.

He had worked on this project ever since Evil Forest. A concoction that was taken in advance and therefore protected the user from suffering a petrification in the first place.

Meanwhile Mikoto erased the last shimmering traces of magic from the smooth black stone blade she had used on the 'magical touched' ingredients. This plants had been raised in sacred places and cared for by mages who – every now and then - transferred a small amount of their energy to the herbs. They were the only way for non-mages to brew spontaneous remedies like potions, elexiers, soft and almost every other supplement used in a fight.

Melissa, like most traditional healers, deemed this kind of first-aid unnatural and dangerous.

Yet, her young apprentice didn't share this believes. True, people tended to get overconfident and careless, because they took too much confidence in the instant healing abilities these medicines provided.

But how could magic be unnatural? It was something that was truly Gaian, something untouched and unreachable by Terrans. In fact, monsters, Black Mages and Genomes were the only things that didn't belong to this planet – the only things that could be deemed 'unnatural – and they all had their origin on Terra.

As far as she was concerned, those 'pick-me-up's were a valuable endorsement to the old ways, as long as one knew how to use them correctly.

Mikoto knew she had found a good teacher in Blank. He was patient, knowledgeable, curious, and most of all: he had much experience of dealing with Genomes, which – of course - he was unaware of. Still, even without knowing exactly 'what' she and Zidane were, he had seen enough of their oddities to realize that 'something' couldn't be right, but he had just accepted them without further questions.

It was a welcome change to be oneself for once.

_Mikoto_, Zidane called over their mind-bond, _lunch is ready. Hurry or you guys won't get any!_

A smile tucked on the side of her mouth. This predication usually meant the main dish was a sweet one. As it turned out, Genomes possessed quite a sweet tooth.

"The meal is served." she conveyed the information to Blank, who in return looked at her quizzically. "I think." she added hastily, but could tell by the way he raised his eyebrow that she hadn't fooled him.

She really had to be more careful. It was just too easy to be herself around him. He might be willing to overlook certain things, but she didn't want to find out if 'telepathy' was still inside the line.

Mikoto had already turned to leave the room when she realized something.

"Here." she turned and held out the sheathed knife he had lent her for the herbs.

"No," he shook his head and firmly closed her hand around the small object,"I'd feel better if you kept it with you."

She caught a glimpse of the retreating figure under the room's window several stories below, and nodded at Blank in understanding.

Discretion was the better part of valor

* * *

Blank stepped out into the drill ground, where a bunch of less than enthusiastic guards of both sexes assembled quickly into a proper line to listen to the daily speech about discipline and duty of a familiar looking – and sounding – man in an unfamiliar, shining armor.

"Hey, man, where have ya been? I thought we agreed on 'dawn' not 'noon'." Zidane greeted him from behind and snickered.

The gray eyed man decided it wouldn't be a very smart idea to punch royalty in front of the castle guards, and instead made a mental note to make up for it later.

"Catch!" the blond shouted and threw a blunt practice-swords at him.

But first he was going to kick the youngster's tailed butt in a sword fight.

* * *

Mikoto lowered the fine, white bow and critically examined her target-precision.

Only one arrow was off target, but at least she had managed to pin the stray piece of paper she'd been after to the straw-dummy's cheek.

She went to retrieve the arrows herself. The servants had given up to offer their services as fetchers months ago. Although the Genome probably wouldn't admit it out loud, so were the bow and arrows her most precious possession. Never before had bothered to present her something that belonged to her, to her alone.

The sky opened up and the sun quickly resolved the last flecks of snow, revealing even more blossoming snowdrops than in the days before.

The winter was over.

It had been a hard one, but the people of Castle Town had made it quite well through the season – thanks to the soup-kitchen the queen had established and promoted even before the worst of the snow had arrived. The rest of Alexandria reported similar good news.

Except for some unknown somnolence that had befallen most of the castle's inhabitants during the last two weeks, no noteworthy epidemic had occurred, much to the medics' relief. And that is how it came, that Melissa had given her a whole week off for 'independent studies', as well as her brother's wedding, which would be held in only a few short days.

* * *

"Wow, you two look even worse than yesterday!" Zidane greeted two of his favorite people cheerfully as he entered the light flooded breakfast room, tail bouncing up and down with excess energy.

Garnet and Blank looked tiredly at each other, then turned simultaneously to the awfully awake blond with a matching expression of 'Tell me about it", much to the latter's entertainment.

"You're still beautiful." the Genome whispered in his fiance's ear as he pecked her cheek and took his nontraditional seat next to her. "Did Mikoto already finish?"

"No, we were just talking about that. Normally she is the first one up, right?" stated Blank, smothering a yawn.

"It's not like her to sleep in." Zidane was worried now and just about to get up again as he felt a restraining hand on his shoulder. Garnet was already standing and shook her head softly.

"I'm done anyway, I'll look for her. You eat." with that she headed out of their favorite breakfast-room, which was located in the guest wing and had a much cozier and friendlier atmosphere than the big hall.

* * *

"Status report of Project DC." a metallic voice demanded.

The correspondence returned in the same monotonicity.

"Stage 1: Prepared.

Stage 1: Started.

Stage 1: Run.

Stage 1: Completed.

Stage 2: Prepared.

Stage 2: Countdown set.

Stage 2: Countdown started.

Stage 2: Countdown expired.

Stage 2: Active simultaneously to Lunar Merge.

Stage 2: Run.

Stage 2: Error report received."

" Stage 2: Error report assessment."

"Stage 2: Error report assessment: Initiated.

Stage 2: Error report assessment: Run.

Stage 2: Error report assessment: Completed.

Stage 2: Error report assessment result: Control Panel: Intact

Stage 2: Error report assessment result: Control Panel: Blocked by outer force."

* * *

Garnet knocked carefully on the door.

A second time.

And a third.

No response.

"Mikoto, are you awake? Breakfast is ready." she knocked two more times with medium force, before she decided to turn the knob.

The door wasn't locked.

Tentatively, the young woman opened the door. The room was dark and stuffy. The last coals died inside the fireplace as a lonely beam of light crawled on the floor from between the drawn curtains about half way into the room.

Garnet went to open the drapes along with the double casement window, breathing in the crisp morning air. The Spring Bloodmoon – as it was called when the Twin-moons formed a single orb and their lights merged into one – was barely visible now that the sun was up. This would be the last night before they parted into their own orbits again.

She turned to the youngster's bed where she found her sister-in-law (mentally she had already dropped the 'going-to-be' or 'future' part) faceing the wall, her crumpled blanket was raised to the shoulders. The older woman thought that her dreams must have been quite eventful, judging by the mass of hair strands that had escaped the younger's braid.

She took a seat on the chair next to the bed and thought about the subject she wanted to talk about with the one in front of her.

"I would like to talk to you about the wedding. The wedding party to be more precise," while the queen phrased her request, she heard a painfully, hissing intake of air, closely followed by a quiet whimper.

"Hey, what's wrong?" alarmed she reached for the girl's shoulder to turn her around.

* * *

"Stage 2: Error report assessment result: Control Panel: Blocked by outer force.

Countermeasure: Destroy outer force."

"Stage 2: Error report assessment result: Control Panel: Blocked by outer force.

Countermeasure: Destroy outer force: Initiated.

Stage 2: Error report assessment result: Control Panel: Blocked by outer force.

Countermeasure: Destroy outer force: Started.

Stage 2: Error report assessment result: Control Panel: Blocked by outer force.

Countermeasure: Destroy outer force: Run."

* * *

A shocked outcry echoed through the empty hallways.

Instantly the two men rose as one and sprinted toward the sound's origin, the light framed blonde easily taking the lead.

Zidane reached their destination first and froze at the door.

He smelt it before even entering the room.

The unmistakeable, sickening sweet-iron stench.

Blood.

* * *

Reviews please? :D


	22. Dreams

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 21 – Dreams

* * *

**Author's Note**

A quick update ;) This chapter was highly inspired by the following quote and Katethegreat19's beautiful song "You are not alone" (a must-know for all FF IX fans)

PS: Did anyone watch Inception with Ellen Page? Best movie I've seen in a long time!

My honest appreciation goes to Fruity-Fruit-Cups, animegamergirl and Clement Rage for taking the time to share their thoughts with me (and in the endmost case a helpful insight into the English language)

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 21 – Dreams **

"_I cannot be awake  
for nothing looks to me  
as it did before,  
Or else I am awake for the first time,  
and all before has been a mean sleep._"  
W. Whitman

* * *

She blinked.

Snapping out of her daze, the Genome refocused on the familiar room.

Machines purred under the clear, white light, that brought distinct, pitch-black shadows in its wake. Monitors displayed the biorhythm of two similar – no, identical – bodies that floated in the blue liquid inside the ceiling high tubes.

She was in the laboratory.

In Bran Bal.

On Terra.

Back where things made sense.

Back? Had she ever been gone?

Studying the monitors, she saw that the two Genomes in the incubator weren't fully developed yet. In the next 257 hours the new vessels would cover the remaining five Gaian years to reach physical maturity. If they fulfilled all the requirements – they'd undergo a constant training, until they became of use for the ancient souls.

Mikoto looked down on herself, touching the cloths she wore. They were made of the same smooth, scale-like fabric – always slightly cool to the touch – she had missed so dearly.

But what was there to miss? There were no other material left on Terra.

The sound of footsteps pulled her out of this illogical train of thoughts, as a further Genome walked down the short stairway into the lab. A closer description or even a second glance seemed unnecessary, since all Genomes left in this place looked alike: Slender, blond, tailed, blue-green feline eyes, blank expressions.

"Your charge." he said in a clinical tone, holding a young child of about five years into the air by the back of its shirt.

She took a closer look at the small creature and instantly recognized him: the second result of Garland's Angel Project, Djidane. He – like the First – was an exception to the rule, despite his unexceptional appearance. This improved body had been given a soul, enabling him to feel and express emotions - rather drastically at times.

To avoid similar malfunctions - mainly irrational, independent thoughts based on underdeveloped emotions, barely limited power and disobedience - as they had occurred in the alpha version, this Angel had been born as a powerless infant. It seemed strong souls had to internalize obedience long before learning of their powers' full potential, otherwise their resistance was just too dominant. Studies had also shown that continuously bending a spirit to the greater will was more effective than breaking it.

She had been created to supervise this educational process, which went far beyond receiving and reciting certified information. A task she – apparently – hadn't accomplished yet. And that is how it came that Terra's last hope dangled in mid air, looking half sheepishly, half sulkingly at her twelve-year-old self, his tail hanging rope-like between his short legs.

He looked genuinely miserable.

Mikoto smiled.

The boy's eyes grew big and a joyous giggle escaped his lips. Eagerly, he held his arms out to his personal guardian, little hands clawing at thin air.

She reached out to him at the right moment, as the older Genome decided to have spent enough time holding the child. Her arms secured the toddler skilfully.

Djidane wrapped his legs, arms and tail around the girl, enjoying the unusual affectionate attention.

* * *

A shocked outcry echoed through the empty hallways.

Instantly the two men rose as one and sprinted toward the sound's origin, the light framed blonde easily taking the lead.

Zidane reached their destination first and froze at the door.

He smelt it before even entering the room.

The unmistakeable, sickening sweet-iron stench.

Blood.

Blank stormed past Zidane, who still hadn't moved from his position just outside the threshold.

The room smelled of dried herbs, firewood and magic. The latter having a fresh, calming scent similar to oranges.

"How is she?"

Garnet cringed at the sound of his voice, despite the calm tone. She'd been too absorbed in her work to take notice of her surroundings.

"I stopped the bleeding, but I'm not sure yet if the wound is shallow enough to use magic or not."

Blank nodded and looked Mikoto over. She lay motionless on a bed, which's white sheets were spotted with red flecks of blood coming from underneath her sleeve. The wound was a clean, diagonal cut – like from a sharp blade – and reached from the outer side of her upper arm, near the shoulder joint, to the inner side of her forearm, cutting through the brachial artery located in the inner elbow, which explained the amount of crimson.

Her skin was slightly cooler and paler than usual, whereas her pulse frequency was alarmingly high. But what really got his attention were her eyes. When he first looked at her, he'd thought her unconscious, but now he saw erratic eye-movements underneath the closed lids, like she was having a nightmare. A bad one.

Just when Blank was about to ask what had happened, he saw a glance pass between the couple, that was clearly not meant for his eyes... eye. It was interesting how much most people thought he'd miss because of his old injury.

"I'll get some water and a towel." he announced with a side glance at the girl's blood soaked nightgown and left the room.

As soon as the medic had closed the door behind himself, Garnet quietly filled Zidane in on everything she knew.

"She hadn't been injured when I entered the room, I'm sure of it."

She'd closed the cut properly, watching the shimmering film of white magic on her patient's skin.

"Can you reach her?" she added in a softer voice.

He hesitated for a moment, concentrating on the physical connection as his forefinger soothingly stroked his sister's cheek. Normally, this simple touch should be enough to give him a clear picture of her emotions and dream images, but this time he neither saw nor felt anything from her. He shook his head.

"The connection had been blocked all morning. Mikoto does that sometimes when she thinks about Terra and stuff, so I didn't think much about it."

Garnet watched him lean closer to the bed, whispering words she didn't understand, in the beautiful deep, mellow and far off wind-shine tone his voice adapted whenever he spoke his native language.

Still no reaction from the sleeping girl.

They waited for Blank's return in silence, uncertain which step to take next.

"Hey, Dagger," she looked up at her almost-husband, surprised to hear her alias inside the castle walls,"Where are the guards?"

* * *

A question Blank asked himself, too.

One would expect that, when a queen's blood-curling scream was uttered in badly soundproofed castle halls, with more than two hundred servants and guards around, at least a hand full would have noticed and come running within a heart beat.

One would also expect to see – or at least hear – the preparations being made for the upcoming wedding, which was supposed to be held no no less than three days.

As he reached the kitchen, he found the room packed with people. A state that – by itself - wasn't very unusual in a house of this dimensions - except that all people lay scattered across the floor.

The red-haired man blinked repeatedly to make sure his mind hadn't played a trick on him. The image before him didn't change.

It seemed all this people had been during their normal work up to the very moment they had - simultaneously – slummed to the ground.

Lifting a sleeve to his mouth – just in case there was any gas or sleep vapor involved – he reduced his breathing to a minimum and took a closer look at the room.

Not two feed from him lay a young girl about ten in a maid's uniform. He knelt down next to her and turned her around to check her pulse. The frequency was a little low, but other than that she seemed fine.

While he thought what else could be responsible for this phenomenon, he caught a movement at the very edge of his vision. As if stung by an adder, Blank led himself fall backwards, rolled to the side and turned to face his attacker – sword drawn.

The girl had gotten to her feed with some difficulties, and now held a kitchen knife with both hands in front of her stomach. Her face showed no emotions, eyes dim and glazed over. She looked off-balance and disoriented, while her target was surprisingly clear: him.

"Maybe a possession spell?" he mumbled as he quickly sheathed his sword, dodged around another attack and tried to locate the associated mage. This kind of magic was very advanced, as well as unimaginatively power-consuming, which made seeing distance a necessity.

But if all these people were also under this spell... Who could possibly be that resourceful?

He caught the maid from behind and wrenched the makeshift weapon from her.

All further struggle became fruitless as he easily put her over his shoulder and went straight to the next storage closet. After he had made sure there was nothing inside she could hurt herself – or others for that matter – he let her down and quickly locked the door, making a mental note to check on her later.

Having all but forgotten about the things he'd wanted to fetch, Blank hurried back to the guest wing.

Cautiously, he peered around each corner, narrowly evading a small group of guards. Their dragging, asynchronous steps promised even more unpleasant confrontations.

It was just one of those days.

* * *

"Sleepwalking? You're kidding, right?"

As much as Blank tried to feel offended by his bro's obvious doubts regarding his judgment, he had to admit that he'd probably have the same reaction: Loony-bin, ahoy.

"If you have an other idea that includes high sleep requirement, low pulse frequency, disorientation, staggered, straightforward gait, lack of emotions and dim, glazed over eyes... be my guest."

Zidane remained silent. When it came to medical mumbo-jumbo, he was at a loss. Still, it sounded completely nuts.

_Yeah_, he thought, reflecting on his own heritage, _like you're one to talk! _

"You are sure that is the only possible explanation?" Garnet asked carefully.

Blank made a motion with his head that looked like a combination of nodding and shaking.

"Yes and no. It would be a good lead in a single case, but seeing as it apparently effects the entire castle – except for us... Maybe it got triggered by something, which matches up with my theory again, since sleepwalkers are very obedient."

"Why aren't we affected? This doesn't make any sense!" the blond protested. Once again he'd been dumped into a situation his impulsive nature was rendered utterly useless.

"Let's see," Garnet thought for a moment,"what do we have in common?"

"We all lived inside the castle for the last two weeks." Zidane contributed.

"More or less." Blank nodded. "We're all humans."

The couple hesitated for the slightest of moments, before assuming that 'Genome' and 'Esper' were close enough to the common definition of 'human'.

The trio sighed simultaneously.

* * *

Djidane walked next to his caregiver, rubbing the sore spot on his arm where Garland had taken yet another blood sample. It had been a routine check-up, which didn't make is any more pleasant. Whenever Garland – his creator and master – did his test on him, he never spoke to him directly. Mikoto was the one who'd answer all the questions, like he wasn't even there.

It had always been like that.

But this time – for the first time ever - she'd promised him to shorten his training time with the blue crystal and go to the water instead. He was fascinated by its surreal soft, yet unmoving texture.

They had just left the main laboratory in Pandemonium when he saw something – someone – block their path. As they came closer, Djidane was able to make out more details.

The stranger was a lot taller than him, fully matured it seemed. Something told the boy, that they were the same – yet different. This was a totally new concept.

When everyone he know was blond, this man's shoulder long hair was a light violet-silver-ish color, as well as the smooth, unusually long fur of his tail. But the most mesmerizing attribute were his eyes. Like anything about him, they radiated confidence and outright hostility in their pure dark-blue irises that were artfully set in a flawless, pale face. Djidane had never seen a Genome like this before.

But Mikoto had, she knew exactly who he was. He was the First, the Alpha, the Silver One. Garland had named him 'Kuiyah' – 'life' - after the lives he had been designed to annihilate on the target planet Gaia, as well as the ones he would thereby restore on Terra. That was before he had proven to be a defect.

"Sent him to me." he ordered her in a bored voice, without taking his eyes from the young child.

The conditioning she had received in whole time of her existence – beginning before even the first conscious thought crossed her mind - hadn't escaped the Angel's knowledge. He might not be able to command the Second, but this ordinary vessel was at his mercy – soul or no soul. He wasn't even sure if the last part was true, since every time he had seen this particular babysitter, she showed just as much lifelines as Garland's other tools.

"No."

He stared at his opponent, shocked by her insolent behavior, but not nearly as much as she was herself.

What was she doing, defying her superior? Countless Genomes had been discarded for lesser reasons.

"No?" the man asked bewildered. No one had ever denied him this flagrantly.

Instead of answering, Mikoto stepped in front of her charge, determined to protect him.

Kuiyah frowned.

Was this mere guardian preparing to fight him – a god?

He'd make sure she knew her place. Garland would destroy her anyway for disobedience, no matter what provoked her actions, so he might as well do it himself, freeing his 'master' of this nuisance.

"Listen well lowlife, I – your superior – command you to bow to me on your knees." cold satisfaction filled every cell of his body as he watched her knees buckle under the weight of his undeniable order. Power was such a wondrous thing.

"Stop it!"

The general attention changed back to the blond boy, stepping bravely in front of his protector.

"I will come with you, but only if you promise you won't harm her."

_Oh Garland_, the First thought humorous, _how do you plan to replace me, when all you created was a weak, naïve child?_

They were all fools.

While the silver haired pretended to think about the offer, Djidane got nervous. What was he going to do?

_Run!_, Mikoto's words echoed in his mind, but he just stubbornly shook his head.

_Please._

No. He wouldn't run.

Djidane had studies his predecessor's files thoroughly enough to know that he was entirely unpredictable and ruthless.

"Get on the teleporter and we'll leave." the man's silky voice demanded.

The Second nodded and stepped forward, closely followed by the Silver one.

"I'll come back. Don't forget how to smile." the golden Angel thought cheerfully at the still kneeling girl.

He would keep his promise, he had to.

* * *

After numerous further discussions, the trio had given up on their attempts to find a logical solution for any of the current events.

Right now they each dwelt on their own thoughts.

Zidane thought of a possibility Mikoto had mentioned only once, one he'd never tried before. It was an intensification of the physical connection that allowed him to trade images, memories and dreams with another Genome, a so called 'Dream link'. In theory, it should enable him to get inside a dream as an active element.

But he hated the idea to display this kind of Terran ability in front of the 'unaware' part of his family, namely Blank. Tantalus didn't know any more true information about his heritage than he had known four years ago. To them he'd found his roots in a small community that lived in a canyon on the Western Continent, being considered some kind of 'royalty'.

Mikoto wince called him out of his thoughts, as the fabric of her sleeves turned crimson once more and she continued to toss around on the makeshift bed they had made out of blankets on the floor, since her bed was still covered in blood from the earlier incident.

Zidane watched over Garnet's shoulder as she tended the new injury. It was deeper than the last one, but just as clean. A diagonal cut on the outer side of her forearm – a typical defense wound.

Whatever attacked her in her dreams, was somehow affecting her physical body as well.

Being more grateful than ever to know two skilled medics at her side, he had made up his mind, and nothing else mattered.

"Just don't ask." he told his brother of sorts, who simply shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the window.

"Never have, sure ain't gonna start now."

The blond nodded, sat next to his sister on the improvised bed and pulled his hairband loose.

"Wow, I really need a haircut." he joked at Garnet, who had knelt next to him and lovingly combed his hair with her fingertips, looking worried. She couldn't explain the notion, but it somehow felt like she wouldn't see him for a long time.

"Be careful."

"When haven't I been?"

Dark eyes glared at him critically and he could even feel Blank's disapproving glance from across the room.

"Ok, ok, wrong question," he confessed with a goofy smile before he became serious again, "I will try to be less reckless than usual."

The young woman sighed, but nodded, well aware that this was the best answer she'd get.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

They shared one last kiss, before their focus returned to the matter at hand.

"Make sure that we stay connected at all times, that's very important." he told her as he bound his and Mikoto's tail together with the silk ribbon he normally used to tie his hair back. He could already feel his mind clouding over with numbness.

He studied his beloved's face once more, determined to memorize each line, before he lay down and closed his eyes.

Garnet watched his chest raise high as he took a deep breath and released it slowly, before his breathing changed to the rhythmical pattern of a sleeper. His still form stood in high contrast to the one beside him, for Mikoto's nightmare appeared to have worsened, making her toss and turn with tightly clenched fists.

* * *

Opinions? Thoughts? Constructive criticism?

Reviews are very welcome! ^_^


	23. Souls

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 22 – Souls

* * *

**Author's Note**

Update-time ^_^ This chapter practically wrote itself ^^

Please enjoy.

PS: As usual, this chapter would not have been posted, if it were not for the generous reviews I received for the last chapter. On that note: thank you Clement Rage, Kyubi-Emz-Chan, animegamergirl and Fruity-Fruit-Cups

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 22 – Souls**

"_You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."  
_C. S. Lewis

* * *

"Get on the teleporter and we'll leave." Kuiyah demanded in a silky tone.

Djidane nodded and stepped forward, closely followed by the Silver one.

"I'll come back. Don't forget how to smile." the golden Angel thought cheerfully at the still kneeling girl.

They disappeared. Time went by, as she continued to kneel, unable to move even if she' wanted to.

"You are just as worthless as Kuiyah." stated a spiteful voice from behind.

Mikoto suppressed a surprised gasp. She stayed at her knees - although the undeniable force of The First's order was nullified by their master's presence -, head bowed.

"Raise!" he demanded fretfully.

She did.

"What do you expect will happen now?" he didn't even bother to tell her not to answer. She wouldn't unless he granted her permission to do so. Conditioning was very useful when it came to disciplining the obstinate nature of souls.

"That this defect will abandon my prime creation on Gaia, never to be seen again? Ridiculous!"

_No, it is not_, she thought. Mikoto knew what was to happen, even if she was unsure where this knowledge came from.

"It has already happen." Garland concluded, making her realize the mistake of having followed her own thoughts instead of her master's monologue,"Djidane has not fail me."

On cue, a shadow appeared next to him and - at the man's wink – stepped into the light.

She was rooted to the ground.

The new arrival was a grown up version of the little boy she'd just watched vanishing on the teleporter. Yet he wasn't the person she knew he should be.

He was older. His hair was kept short, as to not get in his eyes. He wore a light armor, made of a stronger version of the scale-like Terran fabric of her own cloths. It was black and each movement created a dark red shimmer. The most drastic change in his appearance was his aura, which was even crueler and more frigid than Kuiyah's. His face showed no emotions, yet his eyes held a disturbing eagerness to draw blood at his master's will.

He was the perfect Angel of Death.

"Kill her."

Mikoto didn't object, neither did she intend to evade the weapon in his hand, that had shifted from a whip into a sword.

She closed her eyes in acceptance of her demise.

* * *

Zidane studied his beloved's face once more, determined to memorize each line, before he lay down and closed his eyes.

At first all he felt was numbness.

After an indefinable amount of time he – very slowly – became a more aware of himself and his surrounding. Zidane felt like floating in the purest darkness he'd ever seen – or 'not seen' for that matter. Several hours – or only seconds? - later, he neared a light-bubble of sorts. As he was close enough to touch the cold, invisible barrier that surrounded it, he was able to see inside. That was when he found her

Not even thirty feet separated him from Mikoto. A man, who stood with his back to Zidane and possessed a remarkable similarity to Garland, was with her. The latter spoke, he could tell that much from his gesticulation, but no sound reached the spectator's ears.

Forced into inaction, he could only stare in horror as a second form appeared next to the man, out of thin air. Again, he couldn't see more than the backside, but somehow he knew who that stranger was, who walked straight up to his unyielding sister.

It was himself.

At least an alternative version of him. Even from the distance he could see – rather feel – that their similarities went deeper than those he shared with any other Genome, for their auras were – despite the obvious twist in loyalty - close to identical.

Zidane pushed against the invisible circumscription once more with all his might, as his alter ego calmly draw a shapeless weapon. It wasn't as much shapeless, as it was constantly shifting from one form into another. The shifts happened too fast for his eyes to follow, turning it into a indefinable, blurred and luminous object.

Just as the doppelganger raised his sword arm, a sourceless voice resounded overhead.

"Mikoto, come back to us... please."

Zidane frowned. It were the words he'd spoken to her after Garnet had healed the first injury. Was it possible that it had taken this long to permeate through her consciousness?

All the same it reached her just in time to spark enough self-preservation to raise her arms in defense, effectively parrying off a luminous sword stroke meant for her torso.

"Djidane!"

It was the first thing he'd heard from inside the restricting dome, yet her voice rang clearly in his ears. Contemporaneously, the barrier pulled him into the circle.

Mikoto's sudden resistance caught the men's attention. Djidane smirked, he enjoyed a good chase more than an execution. He licked his lips in anticipation, as a growing stream of fresh blood run from her forearm to her elbow, pooling, before dripping to the ground, where it slowly subsided.

Unnoticed by them, Zidane sneaked behind his double, dagger in hand. True to his upbringing, he waited to the last moment to grab his victim from behind and placed the blade on his throat. A stunned 'Oh' was the last thing that was heard, before his body slummed to the ground with a 'thud'.

Without another glance at the fallen Angel, he stepped closer to his sister, hiding her in his shadow.

He turned.

"Who are you?" Zidane barked at the remaining man, who looked at the corpse with a dissatisfied, yet unmoved expression.

"Garland, Keeper of Terra. Your creator and master."

"Lair! Kuja destroyed Garland!"

"The honored Terrans chose their Keeper thoroughly from all their creations." the old man objected,"How dare you suggest, that a mere, defect tool was to possess the power to disabuse me from fulfilling my mission? You will suffer for this hubris." he raised his right forearm and executed a movement like striking down on a fly in mid-air.

Instantly, Zidane dropped to his knees, as his body began to shake violently. He clenched his teeth tightly, to avoid biting his tongue. How was this possible? He felt the pain as clearly as he would have on the outside, despite the knowledge that none of this was real. Unless...

_Mikoto!_, he called out, but to no avail. Apparently, the mind-link didn't work, when both partners shared the same conciousness.

With no insignificant amount of struggling, he managed to lock enough muscles into place to speak.

"Mikoto, you are asleep, none of this is real." she slightly turned in his direction, holding a hand to her temple as 'Garland', simultaneously to his own words, tried to prove the opposite to her. She wanted to believe him, he could see it in her eyes, he just had to offer the right evidence.

"Kuja killed Garland, and destroyed Terra in his rage, you saw it with your own eyes."

She blinked, remembering the pain and devastation – the first strong emotions she's ever felt – as the place she belonged to had crumbled and burned, until there was nothing left. Too vividly she recalled the sensation of hundreds of mind-links snapping, as the vessels outside of Bran Bal creased to exist.

The ground shook.

"Who are you?" Mikoto demanded, in a tone she had never used before. She staring straight at the stranger's eyes as the vizard of her old master melted from his form, until there was nothing left but a black cloak, filled with nightmarish darkness.

"Find me." he whispered, before vanishing into thin air.

* * *

Garnet felt edgy.

Not just because she had very little information of what was happening around her, but also because Blank hadn't said anything since Zidane had entered the same coma-like stage as his sister.

Despite his nonchalant words towards her fiancé, the young woman was sure that he would want to know at least the basics. Well, she'd want a lot more than that, actually.

The only problem was, that she didn't know how to explain any of this without giving away too much information. She knew Zidane didn't want his brother to know.

Blank left his place at the window and sat across his sister-in-law, at Mikoto's side of the improvised bed. He needed no fancy ceremony to acknowledge the brunette as part of the family. She had been just that, ever since Zidane had given his pendant to her.

"So,"

Garnet jumped internally as he spoke up, only years of court-life preventing it from being noticed. He wanted answers, yet she hadn't made up her mind how to answer them truthfully.

"Are you nervous?"

"Hm?" She was unsure what he meant, there were so many things, that made her nervous. The fact that she was a prisoner in her own castle, that something – or someone, through she already had an ominous idea regarding this aspect – was manipulating her staff, that her beloved continued to shake uncontrollably in his 'sleep', that -

"About the wedding." he prompted as she seemed to have trouble focusing.

"Oh." she chuckled in disbelief. The 'big step' was less than 60 hours away – and therefore 'should' be the only thing on her mind -, but wasn't. Truthfully, she'd forgotten all about it, since she'd entered Mikoto's room, several hours ago.

"A little." she confessed with a side glance at Zidane's restless form. "This life is so different from the one he led with you."

"Pretty much spending a quiet life in this castle with you, vs a free bachelor life filled with action, gigs, money and women?" he summed up her dilemma, making it sound like it really wasn't much of a choice.

Her heart sank.

"I guess he's gonna miss it," Blank continued," but I know he'll never regret giving it up for you."

Her attention flared at the honesty of his statement.

"You see – even though he'd never say it out loud – Zidane always wanted the whole nine yards: house, dog, wife, a little girl to spoil and a boy to train, yada-yada-yada." he smirked and mockingly rolled his eyes, to the immense uniqueness of his bro's wishfulness.

She couldn't belief her ears.

"A dog?"

Blank nodded, laughing at the fact, that this was the thing astounding her the most.

The bride-to-be smiled, as the last bit of insecurity left her. At the same time she couldn't shake off the feeling that the man before her, despite the act, had – at some point – hoped for a life just like that, too.

* * *

"Sit here, I'll make a quick fire." Zidane carefully put her down on a piece of mostly unsinged earth.

After The Shadow – as he called the stranger, who was responsible for all this – had disappeared, he had been given a renewed chance to witness Terra's destruction. Only this time, he was far from the save confines of a retreating airship.

By reminding her of Kuja's betrayal, he had unintentionally opened an old wound. Secretly, he had always known, that there had been far more Genomes on Terra, than he'd been able to bring on board of the Invincible in time. Mikoto's outburst – which resulted in the catastrophic collapse of her dream – did not just proof him right, but also showed him how far she'd come since arriving on Gaia. Back then she had felt the loss and despair, yet refused to either acknowledge or act on these emotions. Instead she'd forced them, along with her growing insecurity, behind a thick wall of indifference and callousness.

While he lightened the small camp fire, he pondered, of how predictable it had been, that Mikoto's dream world was utterly realistic, coldness, wet firewood, and all.

After he was finished, he put his waistcoat over her hunched shoulders, before taking a seat across from the fire.

"They are a lie."

Zidane looked at her in confusion, but she didn't feel like elaborating. She hugged her knees closer, as unfocused eyes starred into the flames.

The past had been different from the images he'd seen upon entering the closed confines of her mind.

She had been a well-trained Genome.

She hadn't smiled.

She had neither caught the little boy, nor cradled him.

She hadn't made promises to comfort him.

She defied Kuiyah's orders - yes - because they had gone against Garland's. But she hadn't prepared to fight him. She remembered Djidane's shrieks, as The First had dragged him to the teleporter by a single wrist.

"I don't care." Zidane stated when he could neither bear the ongoing silence, nor her regretful expression.

Mikoto looked up.

"These are the only memories I have from my time on Terra, and I'm kinda fond of them already. Besides, everything worked out just right. Gaia is at peace, we are free to do as we please, plus I'm gonna marry Dagger – well, as soon as we find a way to get rid of this thing, whatever it is."

The fire crackled, as the siblings continued to dwell on their own thoughts.

Mikoto had to admit, that it was impressive, how much difference one insignificant individual's emotions could make. And - for the first time - she was confronted with the dilemma that was her existent. If she had fulfilled her assignment, Terra might have never suffered the destruction she faced now. But on the other hand, Djidane would have grown into the puppet she had seen, killing her just as easily as the people she had come to care for on Gaia. People she'd have never met, but whose blood would - none the less – stick to her hands...

"So, how does it work?" Zidane asked in an attempt to disperse her dark thoughts, that he could easily see on her face, as well as their darkening surrounding.

"What do you mean?"

"Aging on Terra. According to those memories, you were the same age when I left Terra as you were by the time I returned – more than ten years later."

Mikoto thought for a moment.

"When a planet dies, it takes everything with it – including time. Without time, the repeating cycles of nature are brought to a stop. Furthermore, nothing that contains a soul can exist. When Terra's life-circle expired, all its souls were released from their bounds."

"You mean all Terrans died? What about Garland?"

"Yes, they died. When the Ancients realized they would not reach the target planet in time, they created Garland. He was enabled to hold the soul captive that he'd been given, when all others couldn't."

"But how did he manage to create... us, when all but one soul were gone?" He felt an odd mixture of wanting to know more, yet - at the same time – he wanted to remain in his blissful state of ignorance.

"The souls didn't just vanish. The more important people had theirs preserved in a special area of Pandemonium, while all others were to return to a tube, which served as substitute for the long-since destroyed Regenerating-Circle. Growing life – besouled or not – normally isn't possible on a dead planet. To succeed, Garland used souls of lower citizens to power the laboratory, where the Genomes were cultivated. Outside these rooms, time stood still for all things Terran.

But there is more to know about souls than one would assume.

The Terrans took many studies on this particular subject when the idea of creating artificial life was first introduced."

Zidane swallowed hard on the term she so casually used to describe what they were. 'Artificial', 'fake'.

If she noticed his discomfort, she didn't acknowledge it, as she continued in the same clinical voice,"Souls have different amounts of energy, which is spent throughout time. Whenever it runs out of energy, the soul looses the hold on its 'host', which 'dies'.

The soul goes through the Regeneration-Circle to regain energy. The time spent between death and claiming a new host depends on the individual soul's strength, which is defined by how much pressure it can take. It also shortens, if the host died before the soul was ready. When Garland created besouled Genomes... 'us'," she seemed to have trouble placing herself in the same category with Zidane and Kuja,"he carefully selected a refreshed soul and bound it to the body."

Silence followed her explanation.

After a while, she looked up and watched him draw short-lived patterns in the loose sand between his feet.

"So... there really is such a thing as 'rebirth'?"

Mikoto tilted her head to the side, trying to decipher what he was aiming at.

"In a way." she said quietly,"A soul can enter a new host, but it doesn't take any memories with it. They remain within the body. Why?"

"Just curious."

He didn't sound convincingly.

* * *

Honestly? For a change, I'm really pleased with this chapter :D

**Please leave some feedback on your way out!** Thank you.


	24. Decision

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 23 – Decision

* * *

**Author's Note**

This is... an update O.O

I'm sorry it took me this long, but RL is terribly demanding. First my best friend since childhood had to move to Munich (the other side of the country T_T), then I turned 21 (yeah, now I 'could' do in the US all the things I've never done, since being allowed to in Germany three years ago *drop*), and now my other best friend (and fav classmate) is gonna quit O.T.-school (she's the fourth since we started in February 2010).

Anyway, a huge piece of virtual birthday-cake goes to my lovely reviewers.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 23 - Decision**

"Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions."

* * *

Zidane covered the last glowing coals with sand. It was an action born out of habit, rather than actual fear of starting a wildfire.

"Where do you think he's hiding? Pandemonium?" Zidane craned his neck in an attempt to look up to the place they had fled from yesterday, but the soul's sanctuary lay out of view, on top of the highest remaining platform.

The original Terrans – the 'Ancients', as Mikoto had called them – had grown too numerous to fit their small planet long before Gaia came into existence. Just like Treno's nobility had bought off all the waterfront property and shoved the poorer citizens farther into the mountains each year, the rich people of Terra had build several levels parallel to the ground, where they lived, able to enjoy the sunlight every day. The top level, with Pandemonium and Bran Bal, had had very few inhabitants, but the further down one went, the less free space was left between settlements.

"No. I have a feeling he will be waiting elsewhere." she answered after some time and mentioned him to slide down another pole, that would lead them closer to the surface.

Now that most the mushroom-like constructions had collapsed, and Gaia's blue moon offered enough light to really see, Zidane got a glimpse of what Mikoto meant when she had explained about Terra's death the previous night.

The planet was dead, there was no other way to describe the atmosphere. The air around them was unmoving, neither warm nor cold; no sounds, except for the soft scratching noises of their feet moving across the rubble, reached his ears.

There also weren't any monsters crossing their path, which made Zidane feel even antsier. Waiting for an attack that might, or might not, happen grained on his nerves.

"Sooo," he began when he was unable to endure the ongoing silence any longer,"What's the last thing you remember?"

Mikoto stopped in her tracks to think about it.

"Being inside the laboratory."

"And before that?"

She shrugged and resumed walking.

* * *

Around midday – although it was hard to keep track of time without the sun or moons for guidance – Zidane fell back from his place on his sister's side.

A thought had plagued him for hours, and he was ready to test his theory.

While Mikoto was momentarily lost in thoughts, looking in the distance, trying to pinpoint their exact position, Zidane silently unsheathed one of his daggers and pressed the cold metal against the top of his left hand. The pressure was just enough to pierce the skin, shed a few drops of blood and close up again in little more than an hour. He cut, but nothing happened. For a moment he eyed the blade suspiciously, then tried again with just a little more force.

Still nothing.

"...ane?"

"Hmm?" he turned and rejoined his sister, who apparently had called out for him repeatedly. "Sorry," he displayed a cheesy grin,"I was just thinking about..."

"I did not ask!" she interrupted in calm annoyance and pretended to cover her ears with both hands, earning her a mischievous grin from him.

The less time was left before the ceremony – more precisely, the night thereafter – the more his thoughts tended to drift to titillating phantasies involving his bride. He had been highly embarrassed – an emotion many still didn't believe he was able to comprehend – when Mikoto had forthrightly asked him to – please! – shut his mind off, whenever his daydreams started to 'wander off' again.

In retrospective, he was proud of the changes the association with 'normal' people had caused. Little over a year ago, she probably wouldn't have confronted him about the images he unknowingly exposed her to. Either because she viewed him as an inapproachable superior – even if he had never acted on his 'birthright' before – or due to her plain functional mindset.

But just as he had learned that life on Terra had been all about orders, which's mere delay caused physical and mental pain (visualized in little scenes of Mikoto's manifested thoughts he would catch every now and then at the outside of his vision) - she had learned that – on Gaia – sex was not always practiced as a measure to produce offsprings. She now seemed to recognize it as a very personal and intimate part of a couple's life.

* * *

Zidane spotted a dark patch to his right – houses maybe?

They continued to walk in silence.

At the settlement's entrance – a giant's metal gate with the square-shaped sign for 'district' and the underlying knowledge of it being the 351. - stood a monster, waiting for them to get closer. It was one of those red blobs, that had more eyes than a millepede legs. Instinctively, he went into a fighting position in front of Mikoto, like he had done hundreds of times with Dagger, Eiko and Vivi.

Except that those three had never walked out of the back row.

"Mikoto, what are you...?" he hissed, tension clearly evident in his voice.

Mikoto, stood next to the Hecteyes, completely at ease. "It won't attack you."

"Because it's your dream?"

Mikoto shook her head. She had meant to clear her head, because it all felt so real – so familiar -, that she had almost forgotten, that Terra – in this form – did no longer exist outside her mind. But the motion was also a suitable answer to his question. "The monsters outside the laboratory have been created to eliminate intruders, they would never attack us without an order."

He was just about to point out how many of this things he had had to fight, when his mind registered, what she meant. The Terran monsters had never attacked him, only his friends. He sheathed his daggers unwillingly and walked up to her. "What is this place?"

"The original 'Bran Bal', 'Sun's Kiss'. It had been renamed after the upper constructions had been build and left it in shadows. He will be waiting for us here."

"Why here?" Zidane frowned.

"History." she stated, dodging the question.

She lead him to a house in the town's center. In front of it – just outside the garden fence, was a big tree. It looked like all life had been sucked out of it within seconds, not a single leave was wilted or out of place, simply dried. Unlike the illuminated, multicolored 'plants' he had seen before – probably existing for decorative reasons only – the ones near the ground where scarce, but purposeful. The dried fruits – dehydrated as they were – were still as big as his head, their leathery skin a vibrant white.

"This house had been visited only once, since Terra's life-circle expired." Mikoto's quiet voice intensified the oppressive atmosphere, despite the interruption.

They entered the property, and to Zidane's confusion, the small flowerbed - under what he assumed to be the kitchen window - was filled with fresh, vibrantly colored flowers. On the other side of the short path was a pond, more of a puddle actually, with a furry, fish-like creature swimming its rounds.

Mikoto put her hand on the doorknob, but hesitated.

A lump formed in the man's throat, watching her closely. He had never seen her this tense before.

"It is nothing but a memory." she whispered so quietly, that he wasn't sure if she was still talking to him,"It has long since perished."

She nodded to herself and turned the knob.

He almost expected the door – a steel gray slide door – simple, almost crude, unlike the fancy glass ones on the upper level – to creak, but it didn't, which made it appear even less real.

The house had one room on the ground level and a small staircase leading to another on the upper floor. The room was kitchen, dining and living room at once.

Despite what one might have expected from a society as technologically advanced as Terra, it was adored with apparently hand-made rugs and paintings, that created a warm and friendly atmosphere. The somewhat artificial-looking firelight stood in hard contrast to the outside world's red and blue light, that made everything appear cold and lifeless.

Mikoto pulled him with her into a corner in the back, from where he was able too observe the entire room, except the stairs.

Then, the room changed.

It happened so fast that it left Zidane breathless and blinking in disorientation. Warm and friendly had changed into cold and gray. Table and chairs were knocked over, rugs torn from the walls and a lone figure lay on a red carped on the floor. In the darkness, he made out that it was a woman, maybe in her late thirties with a heart-shaped face and long blond hair held in a braid. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Dead.

A rumble came from the stairway, as a smaller shadow appeared. A boy, maybe twelve or thirteen - according to Gaian standards – stepped closer to the body.

His bare feet created sluggishly expanding ripples on the burgundy carpet.

The scene switched.

It was dark again, even more so because the plaza outside the windows was brightly lit. A pair stood by the door and Zidane recognized the blond's backside, as she embraced a larger figure. There was no sound, but both their heads turned to the door in alarm. The woman's hold tightened around the man's waist.

Switch.

A warm, blue fire crackled cozily in the chimney.

This time the Genome was able to take a closer look at the family of three. The woman he had seen twice before – although she looked younger this time - lay on the floor, her head resting on the man's lap. He played with the end of her braid, while reading out loud.

At least that was what Zidane assumed he was doing, because – once again – no sound reached his ear. He also recognized the small body that lay prone on the ground, his feed dangling in the air while his little fingertips draw soft, aimless circles on the woman's rounded stomach. It was the boy from the first scene, but he was younger, too. Aside from the fine bones, he looked very little like his mother. But the short, light colored hair implied an undeniable resemblance to the man, who smiled as he watched over his little family.

Switch.

The house was empty.

The door opened, the lights – white and comfortless – turned on. It was the small family again. This time the child was a mere toddler, who clung tightly to his mother. She had wrapped his stubby legs around her waist, spinning happily in circles to take in the view of the room, laughing. When she stopped, her beaming eyes lingered on the corner, where the siblings stood, and Zidane had the feeling she knew they were there. In that moment, he noticed the uncanny resemblance she bore to -

The ground shook.

Zidane turned to Mikoto, whose eyes were tightly shut, a pearl of sweat running down on the back of her neck. He couldn't see the latter, but knew it was there.

"You finally found me, bravo!" a voice, that was neither male nor female, greeted. It sounded very loud after the images muteness.

The blond's head snapped back to face the room, only to be confronted with the house's half demolished ruin.

The family was gone, in its wake stood the black hooded Shadow.

Zidane shifted instantly into a fighting stance, daggers ready.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded, tail thrashing aggressively.

"Project A. # 2; Djidane." the stranger stated, unimpressed. His voice was calm, but not emotionless and Zidane had trouble to focus on his rage.

He had the ominous feeling of déjà vu.

Nine months ago, during the conference that decided about his shared future with Garnet, he had witnessed the mood of a whole room topple from one direction to another and back again in a matter of seconds, leaving him in utter bewilderment. At the same day, during a more private meeting with the de Lairén's family patriarchate, he'd suddenly felt sluggish, before his outrage had been returned to him.

"That's basic knowledge," he barked, but not as harshly as he'd have liked to,"Answer already!"

"I was given the title of 'Deen Carlu', and it is also my mission." his voice sounded like a lullaby.

'Deen Carlu', Dream Catcher.

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" Zidane's tail had settled into a lazy swing.

The atmosphere changed without warning, as the hooded figure squared its somewhat insubstantial shoulders. Insubstantial, because they appeared to change in height and width whenever he tried to focus on them, like all of the stranger's features.

"I must fulfill my mission for the well being of Terra."

"Why bother?" Zidane felt his energy return, as well as his wits,"Terra is dead. It's passed on. This planet is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker." he kept going, although the irony of the last statement was not lost on him,"It's a late piece of rock. It's bereft of life. It rests in pieces. It's pushing up the Dead Peppers. Its biological processes are now history. It's off the twig. It kicked the bucket; it went down, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an ex-planet!"* With each word he felt a tiny bit of his opponent's influence on him fell away, like an egg-shell.

The figure frowned. It wasn't visible, because it's face being hidden under the hood, but Zidane knew, like he knew whenever Vivi changed his expression.

"Ignorant creation!" the genderless voice hissed,"But what does a tool's tool know of Terra?"

"Stop jabbering, and start fighting! We can't stay here all day." Zidane growled. Anger radiated from the Shadow off in waves, adding to the Genome's own.

"As you wish, but it is not I who grands freedom in this world."

The blond scoffed. Who did, if not he?

"Bring it on!"

With arms held wide – like offering a deadly embrace -, the stranger reviled a body of swirling darkness under the cloak. The darkness formed also around his feet as he began to float backwards.

The fog compacted into an interpenetrate wall, it's color changing from a pitch black to dark gray... gray... light gray... to a dull, milky white.

Silently, like living shadows, four forms merged out of the mist.

The first was an older version of the boy from the visions. Fine boned, pale skin and short silver-violet hair. Except for his cloths – long and non-flowing - and hair length, he looked exactly like...

_Kuja._ Zidane tried to swallowed down the lump of guild, forming in his throat.

A little behind him to the right stood another Genome.

She was younger, most likely eleven or twelve. Eyes held uncharacteristically wide and arms wrapped protectively around herself. He knew he wouldn't be able to fight her, because the emotions in her eyes made it impossible to pretend, that this version of his sister was just any other, soulless Terran vessel.

Meanwhile, Mikoto eyed the new arrivals closely, preparing her bow for the upcoming confrontation. She had no idea where it had come from, but she surely wasn't complaining.

In contrast to her brother, she had expected the two mist creations. What truly surprised her were the two that followed them.

On Kuiyah's left walked Blank, just the way she had seen him the day before. She frowned at his gait. The man's gestures were always deliberate and careful due to his handicap, whereas the clone's were utterly unfettered.

_Why is he here?_, she wondered.

The last person to appear was nothing but a slim silhouette, but distinctively female.

The three others charged.

"I will deal with those two." Mikoto told her brother, hinting at the Genomes. He nodded as she began to run, bringing more distance between herself and her pursuers.

The man was thankful that he'd insisted on a long distant weapon for her, when he'd taken her to Lindblum.

She also did not have the same dilemma he' have had while fighting his 'siblings', as she was able to see them as two simple vessels.

His focus turned at the remaining enemy. Zidane, too, had noticed the difference in the man's motions, that hinted at a very different fight than he'd had with bis bro before. In addition to the unfamiliar 'kill or die' part, that was.

The sound of unleashed arrows filled the air, and the blond man saw from the corner of his eye, how The First vanished into black mist.

A close call by the sword's blade returned his focus on his own fight. He stepped closer, preparing his next move.

The redhead launched again, closing the gab between them further. He was now close enough for Zidane to land a hit just below the older man's collarbone.

His opponent's movements made it easy to forget his outward appearance. While the real Blank wasn't a defensive fighter, he knew his best chances lay in keeping the dagger-wielder at two arms' length; just like the blond knew he had to get close to reduce the sword's range of motion to a minimum, rendering the weapon almost useless.

This was all common knowledge among close combat fighters.

Mikoto was no such fighter, nor had she ever witnessed Blank fight.

Zidane didn't hesitate, when his opponent failed to hold up his defense properly. He fought like one of Steiner's knights, being too confident in the security of a strong armor he didn't have. The wound was deep, but not lethal. Instead of blood, a honey like liquid oozed out of the cut.

It wasn't long before more of the liquid dripped to the ground. 'Blank' lost his balance after a sidestep.

Now!, Zidane thought as he executed what he hoped to be the last attack. He focused on the honey covered chest instead of the parcel-covered face.

He raised his dagger, in the same moment his vision was filled with a face.

Big, brown eyes looked up at him in fright. It was so intense, that he lost grip and sight of his weapon.

Between him and his enemy knelt Dagger.

Her short hair flowed into her face, as she beseeched him to find back to himself. It was the same expression, that had made him acknowledge how much he needed his friends, when he'd felt all alone after learning of his true origin.

The girl's eyes filled with tears.

Zidane hesitated, as his vow to keep all harm from the brunet blocked all thoughts of battle.

Without loosing the fearful expression in her doe-brown eyes, the clone attacked.

Before he managed to pull back, his own dagger's point made contact with his unprotected chest.

The sound of ripping parchment filled the air. He blinked as the black haired woman turned her head to face something behind her, and fall apart into black mist.

As it blew away, he noticed Mikoto standing several feet in front of him, bow held high.

In a split-second, his remaining blade dug into the red-haired's flesh. The body vanished.

They had won this battle.

"Zidane!" the blond called, as she rushed to his side.

He met her halfway.

She looked worse than he did. After Kuja had been caught off guard, her younger self turned out to be tougher than expected. The result had been a hand to hand combat, which neither one had had any experience with. It seemed her three years of seniority had been the only thing able to tip the scale. Now she was covered in bruises, cuts from the sharp stones on the floor and a black eye.

Zidane but a hand on her shoulder, that was as much comforting to her as to himself.

"Everything's all right." he chuckled in relieve.

"'all right'?" she echoed in disbelieve, staring at his spotless shirt,"You just got stabbed!"

"It's nothing, it couldn't have been deep." he dismissed her concern with casual hand-movement.

Mikoto shook her head vehemently, frustrated. Mere hours ago, he had told her of her body's condition, the cuts and bruises on her skin, that had disappeared so easily on her dream-self. They were the reason he had invaded the most private part of her consciousness. She knew he meant no harm; only wanted to protect her, but why was he unable to recognize – or unwilling to accept? - his seemingly lack of injuries as a dangerous condition?

If he felt whether pain nor weakness, how was his soul to know when the body had reached its limit?

With a forceful shove, she pushed him over the brink of a just opening pit behind him, determined to force him out of her mind.

"Get out!" she said, _Stay save!,_ she thought.

* * *

The world turned into a cold, dark and painful place.

"Hold in there, dammit!"

Zidane didn't understand the muffled words. He felt weightless, except for his chest, which appeared to be loaded with biting cold rocks.

From all the loose thoughts in his mind, there was only one, that was worth the effort of focusing on it.

_Why's Dagger crying?_

* * *

*you gotta love _Monty Python_ for creating the "Dead Parrot Sketch".

**Reviews please, they keep me going ^_^**


	25. Waiting

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 24 - Waiting

* * *

**Author's Note**

Huhu^.^

I hope everyone is doing fine.

**Please note:** This chapter takes place parallel to ch. 23.

Dedicated to: Kyubi and Fruity-Fuit-Cups for being the** 4%** of last chapter's readers to review (pretty sad statistic, isn't it?)

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 24 – Waiting**

"All human wisdom is summed up in two words - wait and hope"

A. Dumas Père

* * *

"What do you mean, we aren't permitted inside the castle?"

"I – I'm terribly sorry, Regent Cid," the young guard looked like he really was, not to mention highly intimidated by the high ranked visitor,"But as long as we have not received the entrance clearance from the castle, I cannot led you pass."

The regent remained silent, while the knight-in-training shrunk with every second he was fixed under his stern glance.

"Well then," the white haired man said, releasing the rookie from his stare,"We shall have to wait. Sent a messenger to the Hilda-Garde VII as soon as the permission arrives."

"Of course, Regent Cid, my apologies for the inconvenience."

Cid Fable nodded and turned to rejoin his family, cloak fanning out behind him. As he reached them, he noticed a small piece of parchment in his hand that hadn't been there a moment prior. He scanned the surrounding inconspicuously from the corners of his vision, before discretely unfolding it.

"Hilda darling," he whispered so his own guard wouldn't overhear, as he guided his wife back towards the airship,"How about we meet with an old friend, while we wait?"

* * *

A slender finger ran over the book spines.

After severe coaxing from Blank, Garnet had finally agreed to leave the sibling's bedside for a short amount of time. She stretched her stiff joints and searched for a distraction from her constantly worrisome thoughts. A walk down to the kitchen for a cup of tea would have been nice, but due to recent events – including a handful of tries to break into the room from the outside – she had to settle for exploring her sister-in-law's room instead.

There wasn't much to focus on in the teen's room, which – in its highly unadorned interior – looked more like a functional workplace, than a bedroom. There were no paintings on the walls, no keepsakes or decoration on the dresser or desk.

The only things on display – if one could call it that – were Mikoto's bow on a low table in the corner, a basket of scrupulously labeled and corked potions on the desk, and the very books the young queen inspected at the moment.

Garnet knew a few of them, mostly presents from Dr. Tot to satisfy the blond's desire for knowledge and medical scripts Melissa had given her student for independent studies.

On the other end of the shelf, held by two bookends, was a small assembly of books that appeared untouched and out of place. They were presents from Zidane, mostly plays and fairy-tales.

She smiled, amused by his constant efforts to belittle his sister, who – in return – humored him by openly displaying them on the shelf, instead of stuffing them into a drawer. It was rather sweet, in a way.

Her eyes wandered threw the room once more and eventually landed on a new piece of furniture. It was a drawer cabinet with a glass case on top, framed with beautiful wood carvings. The inside displayed a selection of books, so otherworldly, that the brunet had no doubt where they had come from. She opened the small door carefully.

She didn't feel as guilty as she would have opening a drawer, but still hesitated shortly due to her invasion of the younger woman's privacy.

The books - about a dozen – all looked identical. Thin with dark gray covers, which held no title. The queen took one into her hands, surprised at its atlas-like heaviness. Curiously, she stepped towards the window, to use the last sunbeams to take a better look of her finding's inside. The cover's material was cold beneath her touch and didn't warm even after several minutes.

The pages were black with white writing. Fine lines formed one complex square character after another and they all had the same interval to each other for pages on end. Not once did Garnet come across a free line, picture, graphic or as much as a comma.

It was fascinating.

When the sun took the last bit of light away and an oil lamp was lit on the other side of the room, she placed the book back and resumed her seat next to Zidane, thinking about how much this room resembled its occupants personality. When she had first met Mikoto, she'd seemed unadorned and functional, but as time passed, she'd caught deeper insights at the girl's personality, that fascinated her on some level.

The brunet watched her groom's fingertips twitch, rest against his palm, before returning to a relaxed pause. Her hand slit into his, as she longed for his reassuring touch.

It had been hours ago that he'd 'left' to find out what was happening to his sister.

A warm stickiness on her fingertips triggered her white mage instincts, which began to heal the two cuts on the back of his hands before she had thought about it. With a clean handkerchief, she removed the excess blood from his skin.

As she did, she caught sight of Blank at the other side of the makeshift bed, as he absentmindedly stroked Mikoto's cheek to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

* * *

Garnet couldn't stand not knowing what was going on. It reminded her too much of the most painful times of her life.

Zidane's tail whipped aggressively against the floor, taking Mikoto's impassive one with him. After several minutes of rapid eye-movements underneath the closed eyelids, another onslaught of injuries began.

They had split the care of their charges some time ago. The White mage cared for the hero – who, according to protocol, received the most wounds – while the redhead tended to the girl.

Garnet knew him to be as professional a healer as to not provoke unnecessary skin contact during treatment, yet both agreed instantly – especially in respect of the maiden's status in two royal households -, that he would only take care of injuries within certain boundaries. Those were limited to her head and neck up to her collarbones, her legs from the knee downward, and the arms. On any other location Garnet would work her magic.

True to their expectations, Zidane received less, yet worse wounds than his sister. It were long, clean gashes to his arms and torso. Blank frowned at them, but said nothing, like on so many occasions since he'd met the blond.

Mikoto's injuries were of an entirely different nature. Her body was cluttered with superficial scraps, bruises and even an humanoid bite mark on her upper left arm, but nothing a few well placed drops of potion and antidote – the latter just in case – couldn't handle. But she'd probably have to put up with that black eye of hers for several days, probably more than that. He furrowed his brows as he tried to imagin her calm persona in a brawl.

His gaze followed the progress of the cleaned wounds on her arm until he noticed her once again tightly clenched fists. He took her small hand in his own and forced it to open by pushing his thumb underneath her fingers and then upwards, revealing four crimson crescents.

He checked her other hand, too, before he went to Zidane and did the same.

"Here." Garnet caught the broken in leather gloves in surprise, but understood as soon as he showed her the younger man's bloodied palms. Within a heart beat the small wounds closed up under her fingertips and the gloves protected the sore skin. When the procedure was repeated with Mikoto, Blank summarily removed his neckcloth and the bandana around his head to bandage her hands.

Now that his face was in full view – for the first time since she'd met him – Garnet saw what he had been hiding behind various accessories like belts and bandanas.

From the corner of her eye, she saw a black eye-patch covering his right eye completely, but it did little to conceal the two, pinky-wide scars surrounding the socket.

One was horizontal, placed just under the red brow, cutting it a little short on both ends. The other was vertical and its end intersected his cheekbone almost centrally. They were both quite old, she guest at far more than fifteenth years.

Garnet had seen this kind of mark before. It was a T-shaped branding once used to punish and denote thieves, that had been outlawed on the continent for almost two decades. Even before then, the only authorized location to place it had been the inside of the right wrist.

What kind of monster would apply it to an eye – especially a child's?

"I don't like the sound of that." Blank commented, effectively disrupting her thoughts.

Her shoulders squared as she listened intently to the ongoing sounds of clanking, dragging and shuffling in the hall just outside their door. Her companion had not commented on the earlier attempts to gain entrance, having him start now troubled her greatly.

He stood up in the fluid motion she had witnessed several Tantalus members perform, and folded his arm morosely in front of his chest.

"We better barricade the door, before they get a battering ram."

She nodded and went to help him do just that by pushing a heavy wardrobe in front of it.

* * *

"...in the end it didn't matter that we had snuck into the King's mansion. Zidane claimed – and I bet he still does – that they were hiding more than that in their house."

Garnet chuckled.

She'd heard this story before, but with a very different ending. In his version, her fiancé had been the successful thief, instead of the gagged little boy his brother claimed he'd been. In contrast to Zidane, the older Tantalus focused his storytelling on the group, less on individuals or himself.

She had found them to be opposites in many ways. While the first was reckless, impulsive and obstinate, the other was usually level-headed, calm and thorough. If Zidane was a gushing river, Blank was the deep lake it ran into.

Without warning, Zidane's whole body jerked violently.

He groaned painfully between clenched teeth and the terrible sound of grinding bones rang loudly in the air.

Garnet instantly leaned over him to search for the injury, when his hands shot up to grab his chest. He curled up into a static defensive position, disabling her to see more than the dark red running through his fingers.

She had to cast a sleep-spell, before his muscles relaxed enough for her to reach the wound, an aggravating obstacle, because it forced at least some part of her mind to focus on it, while she treated him.

A constantly widening red circle appeared on his white cotton shirt.

Her eyes teared up as she felt for the damage with her magic, which gave her a clear impression of its severity. The stab wound been dealt askew and was deeper than her middle-finger and twice as wide. The blade had fractured parts of the sternum on impact and only barely missed his heart, but pierced the underlying lung, which was now slowly filling with liquid.

She knew, she had to distance herself from all surrounding circumstances in order to focus on her healing abilities, but it had never been this hard. Of course she'd treated several serious wounds he'd received during their journey, but that had been before... before he'd become her whole life.

Garnet shook the thought off and concentrated clinically on the patient's medical needs.

Healing deep tissue with magic always involved a great risk, one she had to take this time.

While she worked, Blank pressed his hands tightly over the wound to minimize the blood-loss.

At first she guided her power through the wound's mouth and in a clear bow around his heart, because the foreign energy could unsettle the organ strong enough for it to loose its rhythm. She touched the lung carefully, calculating the entire whole before applying pressure to the edges to temporally stop the bleeding.

With painful slowness, she remerged the tissue together again, trying to match the severed blood vessels as accurately as possible in her current situation.

Years ago, she had realized, that it took her more strength to heal some people than others. Healing Eiko was almost as effortless as healing herself, which her body did automatically. Vivi was the next easiest. It seemed the more magic a being possessed, the easier it accepted the additional aid.

Curing Zidane drained her the most, and she knew Eiko felt the same. Due to his inability to use or store magic, he should have been not harder to treat than Steiner or Marcus for instant. But he – along with every other Genome she had cared for – seemed to somehow reject her abilities. Therefore she had to use twice the amount of energy to get half the result she'd get with a regular human.

She didn't dare to close more tissue than necessary to prevent closed up infection centers, and began to reduce her influence on his body to a supportive minimum.

Zidane reach consciousness so suddenly, that Garnet almost lost the grip on her magic. She'd been so wound up in her work, that she hadn't noticed she'd let go of the sleep-spell.

The hope that his awakening from the unconsciousness, he'd fallen into even under the influence of her spell, might be a good sign, vanished, as soon as she looked at his face. His overall features were a stoic mask of pain. His eyes were glassy and unfocused – staring right through her, while he fought against the fluid that sieged his lung to get another breath of air.

After another horribly rattling breath, his body went limp again.

Tears ran down her cheeks and mingled with her love's blood, as she struggled to maintain her support magic.

A warm hand rubbed over her shoulder blades.

"He's been through worse." Blank reassured her, even if he couldn't quite think of an occasion.

Instead, he focused on very slowly injecting a mud-colored liquid into the blond's blood system.

She watched the syringe sceptically. Noticing her glance, the redhead explained.

"That's Dead Peppers extract to numb the pain, and Gysahl Greens to stabilize the circulation."

The woman nodded, completely trusting his judgment.

When there was nothing left for them to do - for his live rested now in Zidane's own strength - Blank handed her a pyramid-shaped potion bottle, which she eyed curiously.

"Take some, it'll increase the regeneration of magic in your blood."

Garnet tilted her head to the side, but felt too exhausted to question him further.

The liquid tasted sweetish, not toe-nail-curling bitter like the commonly available remedies.

"What is that?" she pointed to the silver hipflask in his hand he'd taken a sip out every now and then during their imprisonment.

"Trice concentrated potion. One flask has the same effect as a good night's rest."

She pursed her lips in disapproval, but said nothing. She didn't feel like she had the right to lecture a grown man's ways.

He raised his left eyebrow – both actually, as his usually hidden right went up as well.

"You shouldn't..." she said quietly, not sure she wanted him to hear.

"Hm?"

"You shouldn't use it as a substitute, you might get addicted." she told the wood flooring.

When the room remained silent, she looked up. He had stood up – how had she not noticed? - and looked down at her with an amused smirk.

"You sound just like Ruby!" he accused playfully.

"Sadly, I've got to admit, that most potion makers are addicted to their own concoctions, but I know my limit. As you can tell," he placed the small tin box under her nose to emphasize his point,"this stuff is even less pleasant than the regular type. Some kind of safety measure, you could say."

Garnet nodded in acknowledgment.

Considering, that an unknown enemy had turned the entire castle staff into sleepwalking zombies, a liquid sleep-substitute was a smart idea.

A deafening sound resounded in the hall, followed by a wall-shaking impact on the barricaded door.

"Damn and blast... bloody..." he muttered under his breath, as the battering ram hit its mark again.

Hastily, he mentioned the queen to grab the other end of the blanket to drag the unconscious siblings toward the back-most corner, behind Mikoto's dressing screen

The ominous sound of bursting wood interrupted their efforts for only a split-second.

The humans held their breath, as something – someone – struggled his way inside. Blank watched the intruder warily from the gab between the folding screen's sections.

It was Steiner.

"Dirty rotten..." he muttered, clearly recognizing the staggered gait.

Quietly, he unsheathed his sword and slipped past the wooden partition, that hid Zidane and his family from view.

As the knight turned his closed eyes on him, Blank heard a faint, high pitched ringing sound. The unmistakeable feeling of thickening and hardening bones ran through his body like warm summer rain. He could even see the milky, multicolored energy crackle over his skin.

Defense magic.

* * *

Please remember to review, because no one likes to work for only 4% of their salary!


	26. Sacrifice

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 25 - Sacrifice

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi there!

I'm honestly sorry for the long wait. I don't know why, but this chapter was the hardest to write thus far (and I can't even boast that it's very long or good).

I'd like to let you know that there is no way I'm gonna drop this FF (it's just too much fun to write)!

Anyways, thank you all for your patience.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and a fantastic start into the new year!

Due to the delay in my updates, I feel the need to include a small summary of the events at the beginning of this chapter.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**What happened until this point...**

After regaining enough of his memories, Zidane accompanies his sister to Lindblum where he meets up with Tantalus, who are planning to perform at Queen Garnet's 19th birthday. Once in Alexandria, he expertly sweeps the brunette beauty off her feet and pledges his unchanging faithfulness to her by giving her his circular Tantalus pendant, which ensures her undeniably aid from "the right people" if she'd ever need it.

The hero's return (and general existence) destroys Lord de Lairén's plans to arrange a marriage between his adopted heir Nathan and the royal line. After an unsuccessful attempt to gently force the queen to reconsider her decision, which does not only result in the allied nation's approval of the tailed blond as the next Prince Consort, but also reveals Zidane's status as the leader of the Western Continent and the present Genomes, the province leader settled calculatingly on the next best match: the queen's future sister and law and unofficial princess of Oeil Vert, Mikoto.

Unfazed by Zidane's vehement refusal of such practice, the de Lairéns' plan to force a shotgun wedding on the girl after she became yet another successful conquest of the violet eyed Nathan.

But due to watchful eyes of the castle defense leaders, as well as the experienced healer Melissa, who accepted the Genome just recently as her apprentice, things don't go as smoothly as planned.

With only a few days until the royal wedding, time and patience grow short. General Beatrix's hushed up leave of absence comes conveniently at the time Nathan plans his next moves...

Blank arrives ahead of Tantalus and quickly re-bonds with Mikoto. He began to teach her instantaneous healing potions non-mages like them are only able to brew with special, 'magic touched' ingredients. As his instincts tell him repeatedly to be vary of a specific suitor of Mikoto's he intrusts her with his sharpest knife, just to be on the save side.

As the wedding countdown continues, another one joints the game. The mysterious "Project D.C." launches simultaneously to the "Winter Bloodmoon", when the red moon (known to only a handful of people as the dead planet Terra) pushes between it's blue twin and Gaia. Mikoto's absence at breakfast and the ominous quiet castle alarm the small group of friends. While Zidane stays with his fiancé at his sister's unconscious form, Blank explores the eerie silence of the castle. After several unpleasant encounters with the seemingly sleepwalking castle staff, the group barricades themselves in Mikoto's room where Zidane decides to get to the bottom of the circumstances that cause blade-like injuries to the other Genome without an outer force, via the Dream-Link.

Inside Mikoto's dream, he is forced to be a passive observer to his last day on Terra (images that later prove to be altered due to Mikoto's gained experiences on Gaia) and a confrontation between her, a Garland-look-alike and an alternative version of himself. Her outcry to him breaks her mental defenses momentarily and allows Zidane to become active. The older man turns out to be the Terran Project "Dream Catcher" whose mission is still unclear.

The siblings relive Terra's destruction anew, after Mikoto realizes that they are inside of her own mind due to the memory of Kuja's betrayal. That night she corrects the before seen memories of Zidane's abduction and he is giving his first lesson of Terran history and soul research results.

On their search for the DC, they come to one of Terra's lower platforms where the less wealthy of the Ancients once lived. Zidane witnesses images of a young family, which's connection to his life he can't make yet, except that the son looks very like a younger version of Kuja.

Their enemy provokes a new confrontation, this time in the disguises of a younger Mikoto, Blank, Garnet and Djidane (the originally intended version of Zidane). Close to the end of the fight, Zidane gets stabbed with his own weapon, but due to the missing wound he acts like nothing happened.

This is the last straw for Mikoto. Concerned about her charge's life, she forcefully pushes him out of her consciousness.

Meanwhile Blank and Garnet have their own problems. The castle guards renew their efforts to break into the bedchamber the four of them are hiding in. Right when they are occupied to heal Zidane's stab wound (it narrowly missed his heart, but punctured a lung) the door gives in. Steiner, sleepwalkingly attacks Blank, who acts as the only defender of Zidane's family.

* * *

**Chapter 25 - Sacrifice**

"Those things which are precious are saved only by sacrifice."

D. K. Webster

* * *

Blank watched the intruder warily from the gab between the folding screen's sections.

It was Steiner.

"Dirty rotten..." he muttered, clearly recognizing the staggered gait of a possessed body.

Quietly, he unsheathed his sword and slipped past the wooden partition, that hid Zidane and his family from view.

As the knight turned his closed eyes on him, Blank heard a faint, high pitched ringing sound. The unmistakeable feeling of thickening and hardening bones ran through his body like warm summer rain. He could even see the milky, multicolored energy crackle over his skin.

Defense magic.

He knew he'd need every ounce of it, since – although he was Tantalus' most forward fighter – there wasn't all that much he could do against a fully armored knight out for blood, as long as he had to stay put with his back to the small room's corner (a circumstance that rendered most of his profession's traits useless). One false move would mean leaving his three charges with hardly any protection against the in-pouring intruders.

He strained his stormy gray eye to take in every shift in his opponent's posture. Unlike the young kitchen maid, who had attacked him with a crudely held knife, Steiner had been a trained knight for longer than Blank was alive.

The bulky man charged with well matched strength and aim, despite the fact that his eyes were still closely shut.

This was a battle he had to win with brains, not muscles.

Tentatively, he systematically tried to ascertain his opponent's way of locating him between blows and dodges.

A spell sizzled past his ear, effectively stunning a newly entered guard, slowing the other intruders in their tracks.

* * *

"What now, little girl?" asked the cloaked figure in a sickening sweet tone,"Pushing away the only aid you had wasn't very smart, was it?."

Mikoto ignored The Shadow's taunting with a cool expression.

"Well, maybe you'll be more cooperative, now that your charge is save.", when he still didn't gain any response, the Dream Catcher continued his monologue,"You see, the Angel Project the Souls assigned The Keeper Garland with, is seen as a failure to my masters."

The blond's hasty blinking was the only visible sign of her surprise of the use of the present tense in regards of the sleeping Terrans.

"I am no Angel." she replied with no emotions in her voice,"Garland had only been giving clearance for two results. I was created as a mere Guardian to assist the Second's learning process."

A haughty chuckle resounded in the darkness of the hood. "Don't be so modest, we both know the Communicator lies in your very soul. Fact is, you are the only one of his creations, that continues to fulfill the duty that justifies your existence. Follow your master's commands!"

"No. You are not my master, you have no power over me!"

Images of Garnet's shadow doppelganger stabbing Zidane continued to repeat themselves in front of her inner eye, filling her with fear and frustration.

"No power, hm? We'll see about that."

With that, everything went dark.

"You'll join me eventually." the figure's voice – neither distinct male nor female – whispered hauntingly, before all sounds died out.

To say her surrounding was dark, was to say the universe was big.

Thanks to her genetically enhanced night-vision, Mikoto had never been faced with a situation where she couldn't see anything. For a moment she was sure her eyes were closed, but her usually sensitive fingertips failed to provide input of any kind.

The next thing she noticed was the fact that she couldn't feel the ground underneath her feet. Kneeling down to touch the surface brought the same result. Even the air was taste and odorless.

Complete sensory deprivation., she thought with a semblance of panic.

* * *

"Hey there, Doll!" Baku greeted Hilda with a bow that was awfully elegant for a man his size, after she had flapped the hood of her cloak back,"You look as beautiful as ever." He finished with a not so whispered kiss to her hand.

A duet of 'hehem' let them look up to see identical expression and poses on her accompanying family. Eiko – who stood slightly left in front of her adoptive father – and Cid frowned, arms crossed and a continuously tapping foot stood out from the rim of their cloaks.

"Such a pity she is _still _married to me, isn't it?"

The pause that followed grew longer than most people were able to stand.

Eiko watched as the Regent's grim expression changed slowly into a widening grin, which eventually turned to heartfelt laughter, before the two old friends embraced each other with a hard slap on the other's back.

"Well, too bad your sweetheart 's gonna marry som'one else, hm kiddo?" Tantalus' leader asked the

future ruler teasingly. The whole Love-letter-mix-up Caper was a well known event among the group and a reason to many a tease for Zidane.

In contrast to his expectations, the once so hot-headed child - that in many ways had been even more troublesome than most of his boys – had learned more than how to dress ladylike. She answered in a very calm, aristocratic voice,"Since it is Dagger, I do not see the necessity to hinder this union. Furthermore this nuptials will be very beneficial for the moral and financial capacity of our esteemed confederates.", all the while she looked down her nose – not a small feast considering she had to crane her neck all the way to look up at him.

"Buwahaha, that's the spirit kid!" Baku laughed and ruffled her violet curls, which made her stuck her tongue out at him. This made Cid join in the laughter even more, while Hilda reprimand her pupil with a stern glance.

Eiko turned her eyes away from the rebuke with a stubborn pout, once again in full sulking mode.

"What brings ya folks to this of all places?"

"Oh, just some spare-time I had on my hand." Cid said nonchalantly.

The men's conversation would sound very normal and unimportant to someone passing by. The small group was very aware of the fact what consequences they'd have to face if their friendship was ever to be known. Even the 'Inner circle' of Tantalus (men – and woman – Baku had practically raised himself) had been pretty much clueless until the recent war.

"A birdie told me it belonged to that fine young lady of yours..." Hilda sent her husband a suspicious look, that made him loosen his non-existent tie with unease of the things she might do to him if he only gave her a reason to,"What was her name again... Sapphire?"

"Wahaha!" Baku laughed, seeing his friend trying to wriggle his head out of the proverbial noose by faking name-amnesia.

_It seems Hilda still wears the breeches._, he thought with a grin, before answering. "Her name's Ruby, but she's out right now, 'sight seeing' a quiet city monument with a few of ma boys."

* * *

Outside a quiet city monument...

"Great, now how do we get up there?" Brunce asked starring frustrated at the window high up on the palace wall.

"Easy!" Ruby grinned at Marcus, who knew her well enough to take an educated guess of her plan.

"We'll just take this…" he pulled a nearby haywain underneath the soon-to-be-entrance and pushed it over.

"And then?" the teen asked, still not convinced if his seniors were kidding him or not.

"Bunk u'p." The woman replied easily.

"Wha-wha-what?"

For several moments the experienced Tantalus watched the youngster with confusion, as he was unable to pull off a cohered sentence and his face turned an unhealthy shade of crimson.

Until it dawned on Marcus.

"Lecher!" He muttered before whacking the boy over the head,"'Bunk up' as in 'giving someone a boost', a 'leg up', ya know? Man, just when I thought we were through with all that stuff now Zidane actually acts his age…"

Ruby on the other hand chuckled, before playfully shoving both men, signaling them to get on the cart.

Right then the shadow of a nearing guard appeared at the corner nearest them, causing the three (part-time) actors to freeze, until...

"Excuse me Mister, but there are no weapons allowed in this district!"

"Weapon?" a squeaky voice countered in disbelieve,"What are you talking about? This is my cuddle-hammer, you ignorant rowdy!"

The rest of the conversation (and the resulting chase) went lost on the threesome, but they all knew they didn't have to worry about a thing - Trust Cinna to pull of a perfectly executed distraction. The guard wouldn't return for hours, even if he caught up to the hammer-lover. Cinna's explanations usually caused more confusion and questions than they solved.

With this in mind and a knowing smile on their lips, the three continued their entering.

As the strongest, Marcus served as the foundation of their human tower, securing Brunce's feet on top of his shoulders with both hands until the boy found his balance, before folding his hands to allow the young woman an easier ascent. Ruby climbed swiftly up to Brunce's height and pulled herself even higher.

Of course the young Tantalus had participated in this kind of acrobatics before - Boss made them practice all kind of reckless stunts to ensure their survival ("I put too much money into you to have ya hang!", of course) – but he had never been faced with the distraction that a pair of well formed and scantily clad legs could course.

A throaty growl from Marcus – still irritated at his earlier adolescent antics – warned him to keep his eyes towards the ground. Marcus had perfected the big-brother role in regards of Ruby ages ago.

"Gotcha!" the actress chirped triumphantly as she reached through the whole in the window to pull the bolt. The pinkie-sized tin-flask with the glass resolving potion once again hidden in the confines of her brassière. After all, Ruby was nothing, if not practically inclined. She then pulled herself through the window.

She expertly minimized the fall's impact with a well timed role. The room was dark, but the low sun's colorful rays reflected several times on the shiny metal placed inside the armory.

After Brunce – with the help of two sturdy ropes – was heaved inside, it was up to Marcus to erase the evidences of their little stunt and to find himself another way inside the palace. At least they didn't have to worry about an escape route as long as Zidane and the queen were alright.

* * *

Mikoto didn't fear the darkness, nor the quiet or numbness.

It were her own thoughts that frightened her. Those she always kept herself too occupied to think about them. But for once, there was nothing to distract her; no sounds, sights or touch.

She found herself hopelessly tangled up in a net of betrayal. Every moment spent on Gaia, every effort to treat her patients, every positive emotion she felt was a betrayal against Terra. She had learned to suppress the twinge of guilt to a certain degree.

But now...

The images of a living, flourishing Terra, whose souls had claimed new hosts, the DC had planted into her mind filled her with an unfathomable sense of joy and longing.

Then why did she feel faint by the very thought of what would have to be sacrificed for the greater good of Terra, like she was betraying Gaia?

The rational part of her mind knew that this was part of the conditioning every Genome had been given. She wouldn't just die to reach the Ancients' goals, she would kill everyone in her path.

But his pushed a new question into the picture. Her birthplace was Terra, but where was the place she belonged to, this "home" Zidane had searched for so long?

For a moment she thought about it and even began to consider the young planet, before her head shook abruptly, along with the tone of her thoughts.

It didn't matter what she chose.

Unlike Kuiyah and Djidane, she did not possess the luxury of disobedience. Her path and sides had been chosen for her long ago.

* * *

Garnet had to squint her eyes to focus the white beam of magic towards the right fighter, while her other hand rested on her lover's chest.

Her body ached all over from the continuous overuse of her magic.

When black dots threatened to overtake her, the Mage had to admit defeat and make a decision.

The wiser choice would be to support Blank as he protected them against the zombiefied knights and his human nature wouldn't drain her powers nearly as much as the Genome.

But this would mean to leave Zidane on his own. She bit her tongue to suppress an outcry as she felt his heart struggled to keep a steady rhythm.

Decisions of the heart are seldom considered wise.

* * *

Blank noticed the brunette's change in focus and adapted his fighting strategy accordingly.

He still felt the presence of her spells, but experience told him he wouldn't be able to count on their effects much longer. He only hoped that the stunned new recruits at the door wouldn't move anytime soon. The last stop spell she had cast only gave him a moment to catch his breath, before Steiner attacked again.

* * *

"So... where to next?" Brunce asked awkwardly after they had gone through yet another empty castle wing.

He had never actually been inside the castle and he couldn't recall a time when he had been alone with the charming, yet intimidating woman.

"To the servants' quarters." Ruby answered without missing a beat, already walking ahead.

Unlike her companion, she knew the castle like the back of her hand, probably even better than the queen, thanks to her many friends among the staff. Also, several 'part-time members' of Tantalus worked here and informed her of the inner workings and everything vital as well as the local gossip.

Alone the fact that she had heard nothing of the mysterious lock-down only days from the royal wedding - which had prevented Lindblum's regent from entering – was very suspicious.

"Someone 's coming." the teen announced and prepared to meet the strangers with drawn weapons.

An instinct born either from female intuition or the paranoia from growing up with a band of venturesome thieves, caused the actress to shove the boy into a hidden entrance to the labyrinth of paths designed to keep the fussing servants out of the uppers' sight.

With one hand held firmly over Brunce's mouth, she peeked through a small creak into the now quiet hall way. The two girls who quietly walked passed their hiding place alone were as much evidence as the woman needed to know that something was wrong in this walls – very wrong, since there had been nothing as unheard of as non-chatting young maids.

"Follow me!" she hissed out of the dark of the tunnel as her companion didn't keep up immediately.

* * *

Entering the castle grounds had been a piece of cake thanks to the lax security and a convenient hole in the wall surrounding the vast gardens. Entering the castle itself required a little more effort, but no more than a sizzle-bomb that attracted all the guards attention at once.

They had always been a little on the slow side, but Marcus still couldn't shake off the feeling that they acted even more puppet-like than usual.

Orienting himself inside the palace was a little tricky, since he had more or less memorized the old building-plans, but hadn't bothered to get into the one's after the reconstruction – who would've thought a "break 'n' entering" would become necessary with one of their own as the man of the house?

* * *

A sudden change in the knight's attack pattern – one that had been monotonous enough to allow the redhead's mind to wander off to ways out of this circle before his body gave in into the looming nothingness of exhaustion – made him stumble forward, only to be greeted with an iron-fisted blow to the stomach.

Years of drills lead his body into an instinctive ball. The impact on the stone wall was none the less strong enough to force the remaining air out of his lungs.

Slightly unstable Blank rose to his feet. With an enraged outcry he tackled his opponent – who had gotten much too close to his charges – from behind, encircling his neck and torso tightly in a desperate attempt to hold his ground.

* * *

Thank you for your reviews!


	27. Mindset

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 26 - Mindset

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi there!

Another chapter of "As an Ending" has found it's rightful place in this story.

Please enjoy!

PS: If you've forgotten most of the plot (not that I can blame you, thank to my update 'schedule' :x) there is a summary at the beginning of the previous chapter.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 26 - Mindset**

_"Success is not to be pursued._  
_It is to be attracted by the person you become."_  
Jim Rohn

* * *

"This is an awful place to be.", a smooth voice stated,"Come with me, I'll take you to a better place."

After an eternity of no sensual input at all and only her troubled thoughts for company, the voice – even without the undeniable offer – was like a warm fire for the freezing: hypnotic, magnetic, the most precious thing in existence.

Never the less, Mikoto's spirit was not as broken as the Dream Catcher might have thought. She was aware of his games, but knew her only chance of escaping his influence was to play her part.

Without hesitation, she went to the newly appeared circle of light, whose center was occupied by the hooded figure. She had to shield her eyes from the light to see him. The victorious smirk was evident in the Shadow's aura as he took a firm hold of the blond's hand, now laying in his own.

Their surrounding changed instantly.

Mikoto found herself alone in the midst of a gray grain-field. The crops stood tree high next to the small path she was on, high enough that she could barely see the dark gray sky. Behind her, the same impervious plants rose, leaving her with only one way to go: forward.

Before she had done one step, a silver, cat-sized, reptilian hazel-dormouse paused in the middle of the path and looked at her curiously. It's nose twitched multiple times, before a noise caught it's attention and it vanished back into the field's safety.

Mikoto listened intently, until she recognized the 'noise' to be voices. Voices that sounded very familiar. They urged her forward, until she felt herself run in the direction of the continuous laughter.

Unnoticed by the Genome, the now yellow walls on both sides became smaller and the sky took on a blueish tint.

When the voices' volume had reached it's maximum, she broke through the now only knee-high plants. She was presented with the amazing view of a sunbathed circle of pressed down crops that was dotted with blue, white, red and violet flowers. Overhead was an azure blue sky with peaceful cotton-wool clouds and one peal-white moon.

The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

Something inside her told her, that this place was meaningful to her and the other people present. The three people in the scene were somehow fussy, almost like they moved too fast for her eyes to see.

"Mikoto, there you are!"

She was startled as the biggest figure suddenly stood right next to her, wrapping one arm intimately around her waste and placed a loving kiss on the side of her head. Her first instinct was to get away from him, but her body did the exact opposite by leaning into his warm embrace.

"See? I told you everything we fought for would become true.", he hugged her closer, his voice full of pride,"Our sons are free, playing under the real sun, without a single control-drone anywhere!"

On cue, the two fussy people turned to them and appeared as clear as their surrounding.

The oldest was unmistakeable the boy from the vision she had shown Djidane earlier. He looked about seventeen, his silver-violet hair seemed almost white in the bright sunlight. He held something in his hand, that – according to his proud smile – would please his father greatly (maybe her too?).

Behind him was a much smaller boy, one she had seen many times before: Djidane at age five. He looked like a child his age should, much more vivid than he'd ever done in the laboratory complex of Bran Bal: untroubled, naïve and mischievous. Unlike his brother, he headed straight for her arms.

She caught him and turned to watch the other half of the little family. As she had already expected, the man next to her was a younger version of Garland. But except for his features, she couldn't find any similarities to her old mentor. This man lacked the calculating bitterness that had chilled her to the bone even in her most impassive times. Instead he looked... happy... seemingly content in every way.

But before the sense of contentment was able to overwhelm her completely, she was literally taken out of the picture.

She banished the feelings of loss and confusion from her mind, as soon as she noticed the shadowy form of the Dream Catcher next to her. His gloved hand was raised to a point somewhere in his hood, probably the chin, as he watched the now stopped family moment like an art critic.

From afar, Mikoto had the first chance to look at herself in the scene. The woman was definitely her, only much older – maybe in her mid thirties -, with longer hair and more feminine curves. She too looked happy.

For a blissful second, she had the notion of seeing a part of her future, before she remembered that this was a past that had never happened.

* * *

Markus entered the next room and frowned at the interior.

It was a – relatively – small breakfast room with a full buffet table at the side and a circular center table laid out for four people, but only three sets had been used. Two chairs lay on the floor, like someone had had to get off them in a moment's notice.

He sniffed at the cups on the table.

Strong black coffee – definitive Blank.

Earl Gray tea – clearly the queen.

Only the last cup wasn't as easy to tell it's owner, since both Tribals possessed a liking for sweetened milk. Something must have happened to either Zidane or his sister.

* * *

A sudden change in the knight's attack pattern – one that had been monotonous enough to allow Blank's mind to wander off to ways out of this routine before his body gave in into the looming nothingness of exhaustion – made him stumble forward, only to be greeted with an iron-fisted blow to the stomach.

Years of drills lead his body into an instinctive ball. The impact on the stone wall was none the less strong enough to force the remaining air out of his lungs.

Slightly unstable the redhead rose to his feet. With an enraged outcry he tackled his opponent – who had gotten much too close to his three charges behind the folding screen – from behind, encircling his neck and torso tightly in a desperate attempt to hold his ground.

The fight went downhill from there on.

Like a mad bull, Steiner tried to get the extra weight off his back. At first he turned and tried to pull the thief's extremities off one by one, then he turned his body fast enough from right to left that Blank truly was in danger of falling. But when nothing relieved him of his burden, the knight charged for the closest wall, preparing once more to turn around.

Feeling no rational desire to end up as a pancake between the plate armor and a solid brick wall, the younger man led go of his opponent, who was unable to stop his plan and run straight backward into the masonry.

Despite his hopes, Blank didn't get time to relax, as the tin man – unfazed by his little collision – faced him once more with closed eyes.

Now it was the possessed's turn to seek the confrontation. He advanced from an angle, that left Blank no chance to evade direct contact, therefore he grabbed the knight's upper arms and used his opponent's own strength to roll him, until he had the upper hand. Unfortunately the sleeper had the same ambition, and they rolled on the ground like brawling children. Before he knew it, Blank found himself pressed to the cold stone floor with the armour's knee parts digging into his shoulder at the level of his collarbone. This left the knight's hands free to roam.

Steiner unsheathed his sword.

* * *

Zidane's vision flickered.

He felt woozy and disoriented. He noticed a warm hand on his chest, right above the place that felt like it was on fire. Forcefully he shoved it off. The next thing he saw was Garnet's face leaning over him. She looked concerned, startled and hurt by his defensive behavior.

She quickly realized his disorientation and calmly told him of the day's events.

Zidane nodded in remembrance and took her hand in his. The image of the shadow Dagger's tearful expression - right before she stabbed him with his own weapon - stuck persistently to the front of his mind. He shook his head to get rid of it. The whole thing had been nothing than a low punch by their enemy. His Dagger would never do anything like that.

He looked at Mikoto's quiet form, like he'd done while listening to his lover's summary.

"She seems to be doing better," Garnet answered his silent question,"She didn't receive a single injury in the last hour." she said in an upbeat tone, prudently not mentioning the whimpered screams she'd witnessed since then.

"Who's fighting?" he groaned as he tried to shift into a sitting position to get a better look.

Garnet's palm touched his chest, a silent advise to stay put and calm.

"Blank. The guards tried to invade this room, but the door is now blocked by stunt men. All, except for -"

A loud clattering noise and a deep "arg!" prevented her from finishing her sentence.

"That's Rusty!" he ignored everything that might hinder him from sprinting to his best friend's aid.

"Zidane, no! You are in no condition to fight!"

The pressure of her hand grew stronger, until it was undeniable restraining. It also caused the fire-like pain in his chest to intensify.

"But Blank..." he wheezed, shocked by his bodies weakness and the knowledge of abandoning a Tantalus brother.

"He is doing well, it can't be much longer." she said hastily, thanking the heaven's for Ruby's theatrical influence. A year ago, he would have seen straight through her lie.

Defeated by the mere struggle to sit upright, he lay back down. He strained his ears, trying to figure out what the heck was happening, when he really was afraid to hear anything, just in case Blank was not as durable as Garnet had claimed.

* * *

"Why do you show me this?" Mikoto asked in an only partially controlled tone, eyes still fixed on the family of four, now engulfed in black space with only a small part of the crop-field visible.

"To show you that the dream isn't over. This one is only one of many. Come with me and this lost past can become your future." the Shadow offered his hand to her once more, growing more and more confident in her eventual answer the longer she stared at the picture.

"No." she sounded neither uncertain nor sad, and only those closest to her might have noticed the tiny bit of regret in her voice.

A growl of anger and frustration roared throughout the blackness of their surrounding.

"I am a clone, but I cannot live another one's life!"

The ground stirred. The surrounding became a closed hall made of sand-stone and dark wood, growing constantly smaller, until it was the size of the chamber Mikoto knew her physical body rested in.

"How?" he bellowed as he felt not just his influence on the surrounding lessen, but also of his own body.

"Your time has expired, Deen Carlu. Your life-force is bound to the Bloodmoon, in other words: Terra. But the three days when she is this close to Gaia are past. You know this, or else your offer wouldn't have changed so drastically from a demand of obedience to a happy life as a reward for my help."

The figure's teeth ground together, as she calmly counted off his weak points, while he was not in charge. With well masked difficulties, he freed himself from the immobilization.

"Don't get overconfident, girl!" he hissed,"Even at my weakest, my power is by far superior to yours!"

Mikoto shook her head slowly, reestablishing his invisible confinement. She had remembered a central statement Djidane hat told her, but which she hadn't believed in until now.

_He only has as much power as you grant him._

She closed her eyes and unimagined in every detail, how her prisoner resolved into nothingness

Sensing her intention, the Dream Catcher spoke once more, this time his voice was an echo of many, every single one sounding _awe-demandingly old and powerful._

"'Three is the charm' be mindful of that, little angel..." the voices faded along with the Shadow figure.

It was over.

For now.

* * *

"Uff!"

Blank felt like a grand dragon had just dropped out of the sky and found him to be a convenient landing spot, unfortunately steamrolling him in the process.

In mid struggle, which had lead to a similar breathtaking position, Steiner – sword at hand and blade aimed for the thief's neck – had suddenly slumped over, burying the young man under a ton of dead weight.

He wasn't really dead – of course - but just as uncooperative.

After an futile attempt to lift at least part of the canned man off him, being out of ideas was his smallest problem. He was out of air and his rip-cage opposed any kind of movement that would allow the precious gas to enter.

"And off you go!" a pleasantly gruff voice muttered, right before the redhead was freed of his burden and the knight met the closest wall with a satisfying 'clonk!',"You ok, man?"

"Markus..." Blank wheezed, taking in as much air at once as possible.

"'pretty stupid', I know." the older man grinned, remembering oh so many situation the one-eyed had corrected his statement of being brave in this manner.

The young man managed a forced smile and gave his bro a thumb up.

* * *

"Hey, are you awake?"

Mikoto's eyelids fluttered, trying to block out the sunlight a little longer. The snakelike sizzle of curtains being drawn echoed through the room.

"Better?"

She nodded and slowly focused on Zidane. He looked like a mummy with the many cotton straps wrapped around his bare torso, head and arms. Several inches of bandaging material even peeked out from under the seam of his breeches.

His mind was once again open to her and she relished the touch of a similar mind. Since Genomes were originally created to function as an unit, they all felt an adamant restlessness and crushing loneliness whenever they got separated from their kind for too long.

From what she had heard of, Zidane must have suffered these emotions many times in his youth. They had eventually lead to his disappearances from Tantalus. It had probably been around this time, during the Bloodmoon, when his kinsmen were closest to Gaia.

His thoughts were calm, despite the confusion that lay as an undertone in his mind.

Mikoto sat up in her bed and patted the mattress with a wrapped hand, indicating him to sit. She knew what questions troubled him, but decided to wait until he voiced them, be it verbally or mentally.

"Who were this people... and what are they to us?"

* * *

Done, done, done! I'm glad to have finished his part of the story, because my mind is like ten chapters ahead already.

But there is a lot of fun coming, like the wedding, stag-night, hen's night (yeah, I'm really exited right now :D)

Please leave me a review with whatever you feel should be included (grammar mistakes, questions, ideas what's gonna happen next, the right numbers of the German lottery next Wednesday...)

* * *

Thanks for R&R!


	28. Stories

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 27 - Stories

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi there!

Glad to see some people are still reading this :D

Anyway, have fun!

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 27 - Stories**

_"The answer is always in the entire story, not a piece of it."_ J. Harrison

* * *

Mikoto sat up in her bed and patted the mattress with a wrapped hand, indicating Zidane to sit. She knew what questions troubled him, but decided to wait until he voiced them, be it verbally or mentally.

"Who were this people... and what are they to us?"

As soon as he had finished his question, a wild flood of images, scraps of conversations and confused emotions almost overwhelmed Mikoto. She struggled for some time, before her own calm reached through Zidane's troubled thoughts and the onslaught ebbed away.

The picture of the Terran family was still present, but the most persistent image was of a lifeless blond woman laying on the floor, surrounded by her own blood.

Mikoto took a deep breath. Slowly she replaced the dark memory with happier ones: The woman singing to her little son; touching her rounded stomach longingly; watching her husband returning from work. The woman's face was hidden in all pictures.

When he was relaxed enough to lay down on the mattress, legs and hair hanging over the bed frame, she began to tell him. Little scenes flashed in front of his eyes.

"At a time before Terra's last life-circle expired and before Garland became Keeper of the Ancient Souls, there lived a man with great dreams.

He wanted for all Terrans to be free and equal, regardless of their birthplace. And he was not alone. Together with his wife and friends, he fought for things that Gaians cannot imagine not having: sunlight, plants, and soil. But those elements where almost extinct on the metallic stages that lead away from the toxic surface.

His popularity grew, and soon he was elected as the district's spokesman. It was a great victory for him, but the final straw for the government to take charge."

Zidane's tail had left the rolled up position on his stomach to beat against the blanket.

Granted, Mikoto wasn't the greatest storyteller – too matter of factly -, but never the less he was drawn into the story.

"When they came to arrest him, he came willingly under the promise of his family's physical integrity. Instead of taking him to a prison, his destination was a laboratory of the highest technological level." Mikoto's voice grew quieter,"What happened at that place, I have no knowledge of. But it was not quite enough to break his soul."

Silence.

Zidane waited, but eventually changed his position so that he now lay on his stomach and had a clear view of her face. He had meant to remind her of his presents, but something in her mimic made it look like this story was more personal than expected.

"What did they do?" he asked in a whisper, having to know what had changed this revolutionary man into the Ancient's obedient puppet.

"They killed his wife brutally and put the blame on his son Joseph. At that time, Garland believed in everything the scientists told him."

He gulped. Yes, that would turn even the most strong-minded man against his own beliefs.

Once again the image of the young boy – a completely innocent version of Kuja – finding his mother in a sea of crimson... The thought this scene had triggered when he first saw it in Mikoto's mind resurfaced.

"That woman... is you." Zidane was trapped between shock and fascination.

"Yes and no. I was created in her image, as were all Genomes of the sixth generation, as were you."

Her tone closed the conversation on this particular topic. He knew better than to argue with her right now, but was certain she too had noticed that her similarities to Garland's wife were more than just skin deep.

"Why do you think everyone but Garnet, Blank and me weren't affected by the... whatever that Dream-Catcher-thing did to everyone else inside the castle?"

"I doubt you three were the only ones that were unaffected, but it's just a hypothesis. I need more evidence to be certain, then I'll tell you."

* * *

All of Alexandria was excited about the royal wedding. And when this particular brand of people was excited, they tended to talk a lot more than usual – which was a record by itself.

Many found their way into the capital this close to the rare event, which made the streets appear even smaller, but brought a lot of money into the inn keeper's pockets.

The castle was also crowded by high ranked guests that had traveled far and wide to witness the ceremony. It was close to madness if one tried to keep track of the number of people leaving and entering the halls, that no one noticed the gray cloaked figure on it's way to town

* * *

When Blank woke in a room that definitely wasn't his (for he absolutely did not own the pair of pink undergarments hanging on a laundry line above him!), he had to think hard what exactly he was doing in a bed that smelled unmistakeably of Ruby's perfume.

As he watched the sun until it had found the right angle to shine through the window, he decided it was time to get up and ready for the day – or whatever was left of it.

He hissed in pain as he tried to bend down to get into his boots. His hands automatically reached to the sensible part of his ribcage.

The staircase creaked, a sure sign someone was coming his way.

_Great timing!_, he thought morosely.

Hastily he placed a well practiced mask on his face and stood straight, taking only small breaths. The last thing he needed, was anyone to worry about him.

A knock echoed through the room, but before he could even reach the door, the knob turned and Mikoto walked in, dressed in her gray apprentice cloak with the small infinity symbol – a golden snake biting it's own tail – and a wicker basket in her hand.

He was glad she seemed to do better, but thought she should have known not to walk around like that.

"Oh, it's you."

She nodded, but didn't return his halfhearted greeting. Instead she scrutinized him with keen eyes and frowned in disapproval.

"You know I can see through the act." she stated.

"I don't know what you mean. How are you, are the wounds better already?" he asked, trying unsuccessfully to change the topic away from himself. Secretly, he was convinced she truly could through his act, something only a handful of people accomplished.

She pushed the sleeves of her tunic up her arm to give him a clear view of two pinkish lines on the outside of her forearms where she had blocked the blades. None of the superficial scrapes were visible.

"Good that you are unharmed, because otherwise, this - " she poke the exact spot on his ribs that seemed to have taken the most damage with her index finger, sending an intense wave of pain through his body, which made him automatically protect his torso with both arms,"would hurt. Yes, good thing you are unharmed." she added sarcastically, pressing him gently - yet firmly - back on the bed.

Without hesitation she began to open the buttons on his shirt. He might have blushed if it hadn't been for her professionalism, since it didn't happen everyday someone took his cloths off.

The right side of his ribcage was a mess of dark violet blotches, that made his bi-colored skin look almost monotone.

Mikoto carefully touched the skin with her fingertips to find the tender spots.

"A little more to the right." Blank guided her, knowing the blond wouldn't back off without a proper treatment.

Stubbornness appeared to be a Tribal family trait.

Mikoto opened a flask from her basket and applied the balm to the bruises to quicken the healing process.

He took a slow breath through his nose.

The medicine smelled of Mountain Arnica, Marigold and Conker. He grinned inwardly by the thought that potion-makers tended to use plant extracts with the most exotic names to archive the same result as healers did with the most common of herbs and flowers.

During the treatment, he noticed just how close she was. It gave him a good look at the black eye she had gotten only last night, and the way it looked to be several days old already. He guessed it would be almost gone by the time Zidane got married.

This might have caused suspicion among other people, but he had seen enough of Zidane's wounds heal literally over night to be surprised. If it was something he had to know, he'd be told sooner or later.

While she worked on his injuries, Mikoto had no choise but to notice that the brusque stitched scars he had displayed during his part in 'I want to be your canary' were missing. Instead the dark parts of his skin went smoothly over into light skin.

Before she could find herself in speculating thoughts, she decided to concentrate on applying the cotton bandages with just the right amount of pressure that would minimize the pain when he breathed. She could always ask him at an other time.

When she was done, she handed him his shirt and began to pack her belongings back into the basket.

"Thank you for protecting him... again." she said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

He shrugged, pleased with the effect her bandages had on his mobility,"I'd do anything to protect those I care about."

Mikoto evaded his look. She nodded slightly and turned towards the door.

"Please, wait." he called after her, convinced that she hadn't caught his meaning.

She stopped, but didn't face him.

"You know that includes you, right?"

She turned in his direction and looked him straight in the eye. When she found nothing but serenity, she smiled.

"Everything ready for tonight?" she asked in an upbeat tone.

* * *

"Come with me, pleeeeeeeeeeeease." Zidane urged.

"Zidane, we can't just... It isn't..." she tried to collect her thoughts, which wasn't an easy tasked considering he looked at her like an excited child, whose bubble she was about to pop,"What will the people think, when they find out we are both missing?"

"Ouh, don't worry so much, it'll give you white hair! Rusty will just have to get a little creative, once he finds out." he shrugged.

"You are impossible!" she closed the balcony door mere millimeters from his nose and selfconsciously checked her hair in the mirror.

Zidane didn't mind being where he was.

Somehow Garnet seemed it fitting to let him stay at the balcony, since he had the tendency to use it as a regular entrance anyway. Truth was, he enjoyed the extra exercise he got when he climbed up here, and it was something special between the two of them.

In addition the curtain covered glass doors presented him with something the regular one – a thick wooden one with iron inlays – just didn't: a diffuse image of Garnet getting dressed.

After the wedding – when it was unlikely she'd shut him off, unless he really pissed her off – he would make sure to replace the thin chiffon drapery.

* * *

The escape from the palace had become a routine and they were already on their way to Ruby's before anyone even noticed one of them was gone.

Dagger felt confident in the streets now, and knew the once seemingly labyrinth-like build pathways pretty well. She felt a better connection to her people when she walked among them without being recognized. She had found so may things at odds she'd never have learned of otherwise.

'They are glad you are already doing so much for them that they probably don't want to burden you with more.' Zidane had said. But she felt like she owed them so much more because of what they had had to endure in the past.

When they entered the otherwise empty theater, they were greeted by Ruby with hugs that would have done enough damage to incapacitate a weak monster, before she vanished from view.

"Ruby! You forgot your -" Marcus called after her, holding a shoe, that looked almost like a doll's in his big hands.

"Oh, you're already here." he greeted them with the traditional Tantalus salute, taking a second look at the open door the actress had run into, before performing a well practiced throw that catapulted the shoe right inside the room.

A short time later the couple was seated on a lovely decorated round table with a candle, sea shells, wild flowers and other small keepsakes that reminded them of their adventure. A second table was filled with deliciously smelling food.

The stage before them was lit, and Baku walked in front of the curtain to welcome them.

"Since Her Majesty" he made her title sound more casual than any nickname he could have come up with,"had never had the opportunity to enjoy a Tantalus performance of "I want to be your canary", we organized an unabridged play without interruptions, be it kidnapping, escapes, crashes or other surprises." he bowed and winked at Garnet before leaving the stage.

The play began, showing Ruby - in her usual role as Cornelia – standing seemingly bored, yet dutifully next to her father's throne.

The small theater's stage set was of course not as grand as the Prima Vista's, but had gained it's own charm from the many details that were visible from the short distance of the pair's seats.

* * *

The scene changed to Cornelia in her chamber.

Garnet was surprised as she recognized the girl playing the role of Marie, Cornelia's handmaid.

Mikoto's hair had been braided and pinned around her head, and she managed to look extremely dignified in the simple maid's uniform.

Marie comped her mistress' hair when Marcus – alias Blank - suddenly entered the room via the window.

"Marcus..." the younger woman whispered.

A shocked silence followed, until Cornelia hastily began to beseech the blond, who was already halfway to the door to inform the king of the intruder.

"Marie, I beg of thou! Pledge thy word thou must not tell anyone!"

"As you wish, princess." the maid bowed, casting one last look at the man standing in the shadows.

The lovers embraced and Marcus told his Cornelia of the plan, that would allow them to be together in the open without fear.

* * *

Finally the moon had risen on the third night after Marcus' last visit and Cornelia prepared to meet her beloved down at the decks where a small boot would wait for them.

She tiptoed down a hallway, when a small group of guards asked her to come with them to the thrown room. She tried in vain to escape their clutches, but was easily caught.

"Daughter of mine!" the king greeted her with an exuberant gesture.

"Father, what is the meaning of all this?"

"Harsh words for a bonny child such as thou." he chided,"This can only be the reprehensible influence of this Marcus! But fear not, I shall end his miserable life before the sun's rising in the east."

The princess paled visibly, searching for the right words that would protect her lover. Instead a weak 'How?' was all she could muster.

King Leo laughed evily and walked closer to the door. The small figure of Marie become visible, having been hidden behind the ruler's heavy stature.

"You!" the princess hissed with a mixture of hate, fear and anger in her voice.

Somehow, Garnet suddenly found the role of the traitorous maid very fitting for Mikoto. Some part of her knew that the lingering resentment she bore in regard of the Terran was unjustified and outdated, but the hurt and despair she had endured for almost a whole year - after her fears of Zidane's death had been seemingly confirmed by the blond - still hunted her with nightmares.

But she also remembered a conversation she had had with Mikoto less than two weeks ago, had given her a new respect for her as a person.

It had been the day when the delivery doves from Lindblum had returned home to their nests.

This exchange of birds possessed a history of more than two hundred years and was held on to to symbolize the friendship of the continent's nations, although their original purpose was now transferred to the moogles.

Several of the young males had already found their mates at the feeding place and were enthusiastically greeted by their partner and offsprings, that had hedged since their departure.

"Do you know why they return each time?"

Garnet turned around startled to find Mikoto standing right behind her. She had her bow in one hand and an quiver full of arrows strapped to her back.

The queen shook her head.

"If they were free, they would never separate from the covey for such a long time-span. The reason that makes them return on the fastest way possible is the fear that their mates might have chosen someone else they deemed more compatible in their absence.

Garnet knew from the look the smaller woman gave her, that they had long since dropped the topic concerning the birds that fluttered and curred around them.

"Do you truly believe I would ever do that?"

Mikoto shrugged nonchalantly.

"The Gaian heart is fickle. Just be aware of the destructive power you hold over him and know there will be no mercy should you ever misuse it." she didn't say it in a harsh way, but the seriousness behind her words was undeniable,"Good day."

As Garnet watched the retreating form of her sister-in-law-to-be, she was stupefied. The most confusing part was, that she didn't even feel offended. Instead she felt almost – almost – glad to have seen this new aspect of the girl's personality.

Apparently she cared a lot more for Zidane on a personal level than she had realized, enough to openly threaten Alexandria's queen in her own castle.

This certainly demanded some kind of respect.

* * *

Cornelia's heart broken sobs had replaced her angry cries, and she let herself sink to the ground.

She knew there was no way of escape with several guards in front of her door. Tomorrow Marcus would be dead, and prince Schneider was already on his way to make her his bride.

A soft knock was heard from somewhere else than the door or window. Unsure the princess looked around. Another knock.

"Enter, whoever thee may be."

A small part of the wall was opened, and Marie's petite form crawled out of the hole, bowing before her mistress, whose mimic changed immediately from helplessness to vengeance.

"I beg of thee, kind mistress. I did wrong, but the time has not yet reached the point when it is too late to save dear Marcus' life. Follow this path to gain freedom."

Cornelia hesitated. Could she truly trust this woman?

"Prithee Milady, thou must make hast!"

The clinging sound of running knights echoed through the chamber. Just as the princess vanished behind the wall, Marie throw the door shut with all her might.

The men entered and all actors froze in place. The light went out.

A bloodcurdling scream resounded all around, ending as abruptly as if cut with a knife.

* * *

The curtain fell.

The audience's enthusiastic applause made up for their tiny amount.

"Curtain call!" Zidane shouted between whistles.

Baku, Ruby, Blank, Mikoto, Marcus and all the other actors ran back on stage, locked hands and bowed to the pair.

The couple laughed and clapped their hands together until it became to painful to continue.

* * *

After the long time inside the warm theater, the early spring night felt like jumping in an iced over lake and the light drizzle did everything but help.

Dagger was never the less in a splendid mood.

She had always loved Lord Avon's plays, but she had never known any group of actors personally to appreciate their talents too. Seeing Marcus – who she had come to know as the 'dependable rock' of the group – as side-changing traitor, or two people who usually were like cats and dogs, acting as lovers...it was simply fascinating.

"Those two were amazing together!" she blurred out, feeling like she might explode if she didn't voice her excitement right then.

Zidane grinned and put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Yep, they are great actors." his grin widened as he remembered another play were the two had been put in the role of lovers,"Once they had like _the_ fight, they didn't speak with each other for weeks – no kidding, it was awful! - but on stage they were the most romantic and perfect couple you'd ever seen."

"Did they ever... go on a relationship?" she found it hard to ask directly, but curiosity got the better of her.

"Well, yeah, they have. At some time after the war, I can't belief I missed it! The whole gang had started bedding on how long it would take them to date since they met like eight years ago."

"But?"

"But it obviously didn't work out. At least they seem to have settled some things, because they are now a lot... let's say less confrontational. Those two have always been close and it shows on stage, but now they are even closer in a different way. In Lindblum they'd say they're 'thick as thieves'" he laughed and she joint in.

"Did you know Mikoto was going to perform, too?"

"If I had, I'd have chained her to her bed, belieeef me." he looked like he still thought of it as a good plan, but then his voice turned proud,"She did excellent, didn't she?"

"She was very convincing." Garnet agreed.

* * *

"You can go to bed, Thomas, I won't need your help tonight."

The boy nodded obediently, put his empty bole to the other dirty dishes in a bucket, bowed respectfully to his mistress and went up the stairs to find a nice soft spot in the attic's haystack.

"Beatrix."

The woman turned as Adelbert Steiner entered the small house. He was dressed very casually, in a way no one would have guessed he was of high rank. She went over to him and plucked a yellow feather off his shoulder.

"He begins to mold." she stated, frowning at Choco's soft down.

This would make things even more complicated.

"How was your day, did the boy follow his duties?"

She nodded curtly.

Asking about the young servant was always one of the first things he did on his visits.

Thomas was an orphan the healer Melissa had asked to be placed into the servant's quarters of the palace. As the situation had called for it, the queen herself had persisted to give him into Beatrix's personal employment. His reward would someday be to be given to a knight, where he would receive knight-training – if he behaved honorable at all times.

She had the feeling Adelbert showed so much interest in him, because he might consider the boy for himself.

"I heard what happened at the castle."

Her calm was more unsettling than her infamous temper. Either she was truly indignant or – by a vanishingly low chance – she finally heeded the healer's demand to stay away from all kinds of stress.

"What happened? From what I heard, Her Majesty had to be protected by a foreign thief, from her own guards!" she had lost her forcefully calm tone somewhere between 'what' and 'happened'.

He had long since learned that being with a strong, temperamental woman put a great toll on his mental stamina. Therefore he let her steam off all the frustration she felt for being absent during the events, before explaining anything.

But when she suddenly took a deep painful breath followed by a suppressed whimper, he was right at her side and guided her to the close by rocking chair.

Her face was ashen and her breathing labored.

"What...? I...? Should...?" the knight stammered in panic.

Beatrix slowly rolled her head along the headrest.

"Fine... Already... past." she managed and opened her eyes.

Adelbert nodded, but kept a skeptical eye on her, just in case . Of course he knew that he wouldn't be of any help, but watching felt at least like doing something useful.

"I will get the herbs." he stroke her hand again, before starting the fire to boil water for the tea.

* * *

"More questions?" a voice asked without disturbing the hall's silence

Zidane nodded before opening his sister's door. She would certainly know his answer anyway, what else would bring him to her chamber at this ungodly hour?

He joined her her on the balcony, where she bathed in the moons' pale light.

"Is it over? Has it just begun?"

Mikoto followed his view until it lead her to the peaceful looking red orb. He felt a sense of longing through their connection.

"There is more to come. Terra is rising." she said, sharing parts of her memory with him of the time she was with the Dream Catcher.

"'Three is the charm', that's it? We fight two more times and are free of Garland's freaky tools?"

She glared at him for his display of disrespect towards their creator, but hold her tongue, knowing it was useless to argue with him.

"I am not sure," she told him honestly,"But something else is gaining power... Those voices..." goosebumps rose on her skin,"They were unimaginatively old and powerful."

"Is it save for us to stay?"

Mikoto shook her head.

"Maybe if we leave..." his voice broke off.

She shook her head again,"They have known of her existence ever since she first took a step on Terra. The best thing you can do is to stay at her side and protect her."

"You never told me what you really think of her."

Mikoto opened her mouth to answer, but closed it without having said a word.

* * *

A long chapter for a long wait. I hope you liked it and leave me a little note.


	29. Stag and Doe

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 28 – Stag and doe

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hi everyone!

This chapter is dedicated to Fruity Fruit Cups for being awesome!

Over and out

PS: Would you like an updated summary in the next chapter or the one after that? I'm quite fond of summaries, since it's pretty hard too keep up with a long story line - in particular when there is a lot of time between the updates.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 28 – Stag and doe**

"True friends stab you in the front."

O. Wilde

* * *

"Can't we just skip tonight?" Garnet buried her head under the book she'd been reading until the bells tell reminded her how fast the time had flown by.

Zidane chuckled and kissed her hair. He sighed, enjoying her weight against his chest.

"We could hide until tomorrow." Garnet craned her neck to look at him, feeling the punch line coming, "There is a very nice hiding spot under my blanket…"

She grinned and slapped him playfully.

Without warning, the balcony door flew open, successfully scaring the couple out of their comfortable position on the sofa.

As expected, Marcus, Cinna, Blank, Ruby, Brunce and the Nero brothers stepped nonchalantly into the small reading room. They all saluted Tantalus style, which was quickly copied by the would-be-spouses.

"Man, ain't you ready yet?" Cinna groused.

"You haven't forgotten the little tradition your people honor, have you?" Blank teased, putting a special stress on 'your people'. Of course he meant the Alexandrians, since a Tantalus-wedding was just as unheard of as a Genome-wedding.

"C'on, darlin'. Give ya honey pie a kiss an' let's go!" Ruby cheered and winked at Garnet, who still blushed whenever Zidane showed any kind of affection to her in public.

"Hurry! Hurry!" hollered the Neros in unison, raising their arms to emphasis their words.

"Ok. Ok. I'm coming!" the blond shouted to get heard over the ruckus.

"I've got the feeling they are enjoying all this a little too much." he murmured into Garnet's ear as he embraced her.

She giggled, before kissing him back.

"Get a room!"

"Get ah life, Cinna!" Ruby banged her pig-headed friend on the head.

"Besides," Zidane cut in, "we _did_ get a room before you guys entered _through the window_."

"Oh yeah, right." the older man blushed and smiled in embarrassment.

Everyone laughed.

"Aaanyway," Marcus decided it was time to get going, "we have to go, and you will come with us!" he grabbed Zidane by the back of his collar and lifted him up like a puppy dog.

"Let go, let go!" the Genome's tail thrashed in agitation.

Brunce opened the door forcefully, creating a deafening 'boom' as the wood connected with the outside wall, probably giving the guard on duty the fright of his life. Then the entire troupe sneaked through the corridors in plain sight, ignoring the future Prince Consort's bickering all the way.

Garnet smiled, signaling the guards to let the kidnappers pass.

* * *

After the gang had left the castle, Garnet aimlessly walked through the corridors. It was still early and so she had some time left before her own preparation night began.

An accelerating sound of squeaks came from a door farther down the hall. Curiously, she followed the noise. As the laughter reached it's apparent maximum, a white and pink blur escaped the room a little farther down the corridor and closed the distance to the queen at a neck breaking speed. The collision was inevitable. Within the blink of an eye, Garnet found herself on the cold floor with an extra weight on top of her. When she looked down at it, she saw a snow white head with two peach colored ears and a golden wood-crown. The rest she saw was once again a blurry pink mess.

The child hurried to get off her and seemed to get even paler under his white fur.

A chorus of shocked gasps came from the door. Along the long sides of the door frame, several long-nosed faces were visible, like they stood on top of each other.

"P-Please, pardon m-me..." the kid in front of her stuttered.

"You are Alan, aren't you? Son of Lady Freya and Sir Fratley."

The boy nodded, still looking at the floor. His ears and nose were now a bright red.

"Well than," the queen announced sternly so it was easily heard throughout the corridor,"Come with me and I will show you what happened when one dares to run over a queen."

She took Alan's hand and went towards the next exit to return to the main part of the castle.

They walked in silence, until they reached a door. The room on the other side was a nice little sitting room with a selection of books in the corner bookshelf. All the fabrics and wall colors were held in different shades of blue.

"Sit down, please."

The young rat child did as he was told, so accepting of the punishment to come, that he didn't notice the pitting smile the woman had on her lips as she took in the sight before her.

The boy was not only dressed in a horrendous pink princess dress, no, he had even been give the whole makeup deal with red lipstick that clung more to his fur than his lips and rouge spots big enough to be mistaken for apples.

"Leila," she called out quietly, but it was enough to alert the young servant next door.

"Yes Milady?"

"Please bring us a basing of warm water, washcloths and soap. And two cups of hot chocolate."

"As you wish, my Queen."

Alan's nose twitched in curiosity, because none of the things the woman had asked for seemed to mean any trouble.

"Please excuse me for a second."

He nodded and stared at the wall that the brunette had just opened and closed behind her. Only a few moments later, she returned with a small bundle of light blue fabric. She put it aside for the time being.

"It is hard to have six sisters, hm?" she asked in a sympathetic tone.

He nodded and sighed. His sisters were so much more adventurous than he was and they grew bored way too easily. This usually meant – as long as he hadn't found a really good hiding spot to read his books – they'd find him and do all kind of things to amuse themselves. Today was obviously dress up day.

He sighed again.

The young maid arrived and placed the ordered objects on the table before she left once again in the next door chamber to continue her previous work.

Garnet smiled and carefully began to remove the make up with warm water and soap. Alan giggled from time to time as she accidentally touched the long white whiskers around his nose and the smaller ones on his cheeks and over his eyes. His laughter was infectious and soon they both giggled freely. Once his face was cleaned up, she opened the dress' lacing on the back and handed him the blue fabric.

"It's a little big, but I thought you might like the color."

He grinned and nodded happily as his head reappeared through the shirt's head hole. She helped him roll up the sleeves. Garnet smiled as the small contrast between his snow white fur and the light – almost washed out – blue of Zidane's clothing turned him once again into the image of a soft cloud on the pale blue sky.

After they had talked and finished their cups of hot chocolate, the pair went back towards the guest wing. Where they were greeted by a distressed looking Freya, who was just giving one of her daughters a roasting in the middle of the corridor.

"That's Chloe." Alan whispered.

Garnet remembered the girl as the cheekiest and second eldest of her friend's daughters.

"Alan!" she shouted out suddenly, giving her mother an apologetic look, before dashing off to give her brother an enthusiastic hug.

"Alan!" the other girls chorused and joined in on the hugging.

* * *

"They look like little angels when they sleep." Garnet whispered with a smile as she longingly stroked Alan's soft cheek – carefully evading his whiskers as not to wake him.

"Yes, they do." Freya agreed proudly, but she also sounded somewhat tired.

The young queen watched the kids sleep. She noticed that they looked much older than they had been only nine months ago. Back then they'd appeared to be about four years old – when in truth they'd been only one – but now all of them looked more like six.

"They grow up so quickly!"

Once again, Freya nodded as she watched over her children while being watched herself.

The brunette knew that her friend had reached an age when her kind began to age even more rapidly than before. Freya looked now around thirty. Garnet knew from her studies that within the next three years alone she'd age ten more years. In four years she would turn twenty years old, which was the equivalent of a fifty year old human... and the most common age for Burmecians to return to the stars.

Garnet had to bite back tears.

A warm arm wrapped around her shoulders and made her look up.

"It is a common thing for you humans to think my people's life is short, when in truth it is only faster." the lady knight said in a comforting, almost motherly way, instantly guessing at her friend's thoughts,"I had a good childhood, have fallen in love, become a Dragon Knight, traveled around the world – been to a different planet even -, found my love again, rebuild a kingdom, got married, had seven kids and trained and wedded off a king. Tell me, what have I missed out on in life?"

That was something Garnet had never considered. All she'd thought about that Freya was still only sixteen and was going to die when she reached her age.

She smiled and nodded, signaling the rat woman that she understood now.

"Well, then... Let's move you to the next point on your list: your wedding. I'm sure the other's will already be waiting for us."

* * *

Squeak-creak.

**Squeak**-creak.

Squeak-**creak.**

**Squeak-creak.**

Zidane sighed impatiently and sat back from his position hunched over the gondola's edge to once again watch the dark tunnel before him.

They had been traveling with the Gargan for only one hour, and he was already sick of it. Not a single monster had passed them. Back in the days when everything had been an adventure, he'd loved taking this giant beasts for a ride like he'd done in the Fossil Roo, but now that the monsters were getting less and less common, there was hardly any chance for him to taste the excitement of a battle. Which left him bored to tears.

Ruby discussed some theater related stuff with Marcus, while most of the others had decided to take a nap. Blank entertained himself with a fishing rod he had 'found' near the docks and used now to collect all kind of stuff that got snag in the hook that hauled over the rock flouring. He'd even managed to catch a boot that – despite not being his own - woke not too pleasant memories for the Genome.

Sure, all of them had lost equipment over the course of their adventure, but loosing a shoe had somehow been so much more entertaining. He remembered the wounds this particular battle had cost him – or more precisely: his ego. There he had been, more jumping than walking to evade the knife sharp rocks Mother Nature just loved to place under his poor, unshod foot! The reaction of his companions had been as wide as it had been unpleasant. After the general amusement, they all switched to their own way of tormenting him. But the worst hadn't been Steiner's scorn concerning his abilities, Freya's mock encouragement, or Amarant's irritated mumbles how he possible could have lost to the likes of him, or Eiko and Vivi's honest concern (along with the girl's ridiculous advances). No, it had been Dagger's disregard. True, he'd pulled another one of his antics on her mere hours ago, but he couldn't believe she was still miffed about it!

"Hey, Zidane!"

The loud voice of his bro made the blond jump out of his thoughts. When he refocused on the present, he noticed that the gondola stood still, the Gargan nibbling happily on one of the smelly yellow flowers. He realized he must have fallen asleep.

After a good stretching – that brought an extra two bouquets to the beast's meal plan, he jumped off the transport basket.

"Ready to see Treno, sleeping beauty?"

Of course Blank couldn't resist that one. All in all it earned him a punch to the shoulder – which he simply downplayed with a snicker just to tease the young fellow a little more – and some half-hearted, silent threats of revenge.

The tower that served as an exit was empty since it's owner – just as most of the other high ranked people - was currently at the castle for the big celebration tomorrow. Of course that didn't mean that The City That Never Sleeps wasn't overrun by pleasure seeking nobles anyway.

Once they made their way out of one of the windows – it was insane that the tower hadn't been emptied a long time ago, considering the 'inviting' architecture with it's large windows and lax security – they looked around.

The scenery was, like always, amazing. They had a great view of the rich parts of the city, with all its blinding lights, vibrant colors and music. A true paradise for the rich and the thieves.

* * *

As Freya had predicted, they arrived last.

The sitting room was filled with the light and warmth of a cozy chimney fire with several big armchairs arranged in a semicircle around it with small table in between with snacks, drinks and embroider material in immediate reach.

Garnet smiled as she saw the small group of people waiting for her. Now she was more glad than ever that she had turned down all the noble-women's request to be a part of this night. Despite everything, she felt nervous and knew that those closest to would know the right words to calm her. Hilda had just finished a story, when she noticed her standing in the doorway and quickly called out to her to come in.

"Well my dear, this is your last night as an unmarried maiden and – as tradition calls for it – we who are already wives will do our best to prepare you for marriage life." Hilda announced with a soft smile, inviting the brunette to sit down next to her.

One after the other, the women sat, eager to hear more. The last one to sit was Mikoto, who looked a little lost among the others. Eiko shared the small couch with the blond, but mostly because of her mother's threat to sent her to bed before the event had even began. It was easy to see that their rough start back on Terra and their very few meetings afterward – combined with Eiko's vivid letter exchange with Vivi – hadn't been set straight yet.

Garnet sighed as she thought about that she had given Eiko a new reason to not get warm with Mikoto by naming the Genome her Maid of Honor instead of her only living relative.

"Sooooo... what are we gonna do all night?" Eiko asked, eyeing the filigree threads with horror.

She'd thought the women would do something exciting, maybe similar of what the boys did – not that these meanies had really told her WHAT they had planned, but it couldn't be worse than embroidering. Besides, if Zidane and his friends didn't do anything they wouldn't get in trouble for, why had they left the city?

"I am not quite sure what the young people do nowadays, but when it was my turn – oh so long ago," she laughed in remembrance,"I was told stories about my sister's marriages and everything else a woman has to know."

* * *

"Yep, yep, yep. Another round goes to the marvelous Zidane Tribal! Hm..." he looked through his opponent's deck of cards.

Since he had – once again, and to the immense joy of his ego – won 10 to 0, they were all his now.

The former owner left without another word after he had lost his last chance of winning back the other fifty cards he had lost to the tailed stranger. Was the title 'Card Champion' worth nothing nowadays?

"Ok, Zidane, let's go." Markus ordered, clapping the silly grinning Genome on the shoulder.

"W... Why? I just got started!"

"Because," Brunce put in," we have been here for hours! It's no fun!"

"Yeah, you saying that because you are out of cards." Zidane gloated, feeling very damn fantastic about himself, "Here, you choose five cards from my deck and when you win you can keep them."

The young boy felt tempted, but was held back by Cinna. "Man, just look around, all those people are getting suspicious of you for winning every single match."

"I'm not cheating!" Zidane burst out, feeling offended, "It's so darn easy, I don't have to." he added sulking.

"Howbeit, that little victory dance of yours is just embarrassing!" Blank stated from around a pretzel stick.

* * *

"You see, your uncle and I had been married for political convenience. But we had been given the privilege to get to know each other for several months, before the actual wedding – which made the wedding night a lot more bearable than most." she glanced at her niece, silently reassuring her that this particular aspect of married life would be discussed later – after her daughter had gone to bed.

"I always assumed you were a love match." Garnet confessed, "You always seemed so happy."

"We are very happy, my dear, it just took some time." Hilda smiled as she thought about the turning point of her relationship with Cid.

"It was about six months into our marriage, I was only a few years younger than you are now..."

.::

Hilda had never been the type of girl who simply watched injustice as it passed by.

When she was a child, she had vehemently called for justice and wasn't above taking matters into her own hands – quite literally at times. In addition to her quite infamous temper – along with the appearance of her unusually magical talents – it was soon known among the boys of the neighborhood not to anger her.

But by the time her hair was pinned up – after years under her governess' strict teachings – she appeared perfectly tamed, a prim example for her noble family. Yet, underneath the powder, silk, drilled calmness and fake smiles - where no one saw - she had managed to preserve her old self.

In general, she had nothing to complain about her new husband. While he – like most men it seemed – only talked about skin-deep topics with her, he never treated her like she was stupid. He probably thought she wasn't interested in legal affairs. He was kind and gentle, so much in fact, that she got the impression he thought of her as a china doll.

He had never given her a reason to mistrust him, yet there were his this late night escapades he denied just too vehemently for her taste. He'd leave their chamber quietly at night and when he returned, he'd smell of alcohol and tobacco, and was quite cuddly in general.

Many times she had tried to watch where he was going, but without any success, until this very morning. She had found a ripped letter on the floor, a reminder, that Cid had a meeting with someone named 'Lex' and 'Robi' and someone else, stating that they'd 'beat the pants off' him until he 'begged for mercy'.

The two of them just had to see their first summer as husband and wife, and he already looked for amusement outside their shared chamber? She had been outraged, but had – true to her upbringing – remained calm and quiet throughout the day.

So came it that - on this late winter night - Hilda sneaked carefully past her guards in a servant's dark wool cloak and entered the world outside the palace. The air stung in her warmth-spoiled lungs and the wind tried to usher her back into the house. Raising her chin stubbornly, the young woman hastily followed her target as he marched purposefully through the streets. She wasn't all that concerned about getting lost, despite the fact that she had never been allowed to wander outside the secure areal of the palace. Her plan was to confront Cid 'red handed' – but not with 'his pants down' as the saying went.

Soon, her way lead her into the - literally - darker parts of her new hometown, where the streets lamps became few and stretched farther apart, and the fine cafes were replaced by rundown pubs. She felt sick. If he had to look for another woman's company, why couldn't he show a little more taste – or cleanliness at the very least? He was the Regent, for Odin's sake!

Quickly, she turned to a nearby door, pretending to wait for someone, as he looked around before entering the building to his right.

Slowly, as to not raise suspicion, she continued her walk.

'The Plucked Chocobo' read the askew hanging door-sign, the letters written with faded red painting underneath the woodcarving of a very unfortunate creature.

Hilda shuddered.

The guest room with its blotchy wood tables and mismatched chairs was dimly lit and scarcely visited. The man at the bar – who had stopped polishing a glass in mid-rub – starred at her openly. She groaned inwardly. Even her servant's shabbiest cloak stood out in a place like this.

"Excuse me, the gentleman who just entered, where might I find him?"

The barkeeper looked at her without the slightest sign of comprehension.

_What to do, what to do...?_, she thought, deciding that she might have more success by keeping her sentence as plain as possible.

"The man... about this tall," she heightened her hand about two thirds of a foot above her own head to illustrate her point, "that just came in. Where is he?"

The man flashed a grin, showing all of his five yellow teeth. "'e said not'ing 'bout more 'ompany..." something in her mimic must have shown just how little she cared,"Well gal, up an' t'e sev'nth door on t'e right."

Without much hesitation, she nodded her thanks and climbed the flight of stairs he'd pointed at. Once inside the musky corridor, she to started to count the doors.

Five... six... seven.

Loud laughter exploded from the room behind the door, along with several curses and the worst language her ears had ever been exposed to.

"You cheating, nymph-fucking son of a sewer rat!"

Hilda blinked. This surely hadn't been her husband's voice, had it?

A guffawing laugh followed, "Ain't nothing wrong with that!"

"Sure your Canary won't miss you?" a quiet baritone put in. Hilda had to strain her ears to hear him clearly.

"Oh Lex, what's it with you pansy Alexandrians and birds?" the unfamiliar loud voice asked.

"You want in?" a smooth voice whispered in her ear from behind.

Hilda nearly leaped clean out of her skin in fright. She hadn't heard the man's approach and must have been a shameful sight as she leaned on the door, trying to spy on the people inside. Before she could respond, he beat against the door and opened it without hesitation.

"There you go." he announced, stepped past her and threw himself on the nearest chair, not noticing the suddenly dead quiet that had hit the room like a battering ram.

If it hadn't been as improper and unexpected, the situation might have been hilarious. Hilda's glance roamed through the tiny room, which was basically over stuffed with a small bed, several chairs and a small round table, the latter overflowing with bottles, parchment pieces, playing cards, cracked nutshells and money.

She almost squeaked in surprise, as she realized she recognized more than one the men.

Next to her husband – who appeared to be petrified under her stare – sat a young man with tidy black hair, dark brown eyes and aristocratic features. She remembered him from her wedding as Cid's best man: Prince Alexander XXII, Alexandria's Crown Prince.

The man who had opened the door – more of a boy, now that she saw him in the light – was looking at her with a new interest, had dark eyes and soft brown hair that was neatly tied back.

The last one in the group was a man who seemed to be a little older than the others, maybe twenty-three or twenty-four. His build was heavy, not fat, but bulky with muscles and his hair was unruly and purplish, like the four-day beard. Two long, furry ears stood up from his head, like a donkey's, yet his nose was triangular like a pigs. In short, he fit right in with most of Lindblum's civilians.

"H-Hilda!" the new Regent squeaked in an unmanly high voice – not unlike the one he would try to start his apology with, right before being turned into an oglop many years later.

"You're 'Baku'?" she asked, ignoring him as she focused on the oldest man.

"Sure am, doll!" he confirmed with a crooked grin, "How did ya...?"

Hilda blushed, as 'Lex', 'Rob' and 'Baku', who she had expected to be harlots – what did she know about prostitutes' aliases? - turned out to be a bunch of Cid's unofficial friends.

"He sleep-talks."

It wasn't a lie... not completely anyway, since he tended to mumble from time to time in his sleep.

Baku laughed, clearly unfazed by the strained atmosphere. "Wanna join us for a friendly game?"

The room's male population stared at him in disbelieve. They were used to his daring – sometimes plain stupid – ideas by now, but this was an entire new level of impudence.

Maybe it was the relief of having a faithful husband after all, or her continuing boredom at court, or maybe she just wanted to prove Cid that she too could be daring.

"Sure."

.::

Eiko snickered, as Hilda's story ended, her head resting on her mother's lap.

Garnet was buffed. "You mean, my father..." she couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

She didn't have to, because Hilda started laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach. "Lex was not as bad as the others – more like the voice of reason you'd say – but yes, he snuck out of the castle at any chance he got. Sometimes he'd arrange hunting trips, just to get loose of his companions to meet up with Baku and Cid. And Robert," she added the last name thoughtfully, "He was always with Baku and they came up with that 'theater group' Tantalus. But he had always been extremely restless and eventually joined a band of pirates. Cid told me once that one of Baku's boys was actually brought to him by Robert."

The brunette still couldn't bring herself to connect her always correct, wonderful father with actors, thieves and pirates. She would ask her aunt about it later, and decided to drop the topic.

"I still can't believe that he cheated on you." Garnet said quietly after a pause.

"Well, it was to be expected." Hilda replied with a grim smile, "When men reach a certain age, they need to prove themselves that they are still 'in the game'. Its unpleasant, but passes."

The bride-to-be raised an eyebrow at her aunt's hypocritical calm.

"You turned him into an Oglop."

"Yes," she smiled wickedly, "because he was stupid enough to get caught!"

The room burst out into laughter, even Mikoto couldn't help but snicker.

* * *

"You guys are kidding me, right? Or are you seriously trying to get me killed?" Zidane asked with real horror.

The men – plus Ruby – stood in front of a building that looked to a normal by-passer like any other residence house, but to someone who had grown up on the other side of the law, it was easily to recognize it for it's true purpose.

It was a strip club. Not the most lawful thing in this town.

The other Tantalus started laughing while they pushed him through the door. The inside smelt of tobacco, sweat and alcohol and the only light came from the spot lights that were directed to the sparsely clad women who danced on a small stage and some tables.

"I. Am. So. Dead. She'll kill me, and it will not be done with mercy." the blond said in shock as the weight of the situation went down on him.

"Aww, she will never find out, 'sides you can always come and join me."

Ruby pointed to a small room at the side where he knew was where the male dancer had their stage. He wasn't exactly sure which would cause a greater outcry among the people, when they saw their queen's future husband staring at other women or men.

"Can't I just wait outside?" he begged, but the Neros made it clear they wouldn't let him leave just yet.

"Great, just... great!" he mumbled and slumped defeated into a chair in the corner.

* * *

"Well, dear, of course you know all the rituals that will be performed tomorrow, and the Lindblumies traditions from the dozens of times you asked to be told about over the years, but maybe one of your other guests might be able to tell us a little about their costumes." Hilda smiled nicely, turning toward Mikoto.

Garnet almost choked on her tea. Her aunt knew a lot about what happened during the war – mostly thanks to Kuja – but the teeny-tiny detail that her fiancé's family was a soul and emotionless collection of vessels... well, it hadn't seem important until now. The most troubling part about it was, that Hilda – amplified by her magic abilities – could detect any kind of lie, no matter how good a person told it.

While the queen began to panic, the blond girl smiled calmly, set her own teacup on the table and began to speak.

"Where I am from, people use flower chains to signify their union. Flowers are almost more precious than gold, due to the infertile soil and are raised by the couple themselves. If they are able to bring the seeds to blossom, they promise their life to each other and that's all."

"Oh, that is neat." Hilda said. She had never heard of a wedding scenario that was this uneventful. Nevertheless, she had the great respect for the girl's people.

"In Burmecia," Freya began,"Engagement and marriage are different from most other nations. Promising matches are made between couples and they get 'married' to each other in Gizarmaluke's grotto. It had once been a test to see how strong the couple's feeling were, but now a days there is nothing more than a huge statue of the old snake. In contrast to your understanding of a marriage, the promise is not binding until the first child is born. When this happened, both parents receive a ring." she swung her tail into sight to illustrate, "Before that, a small bow or piece of cloth signals their plans."

"You had a ribbon when we met!" Eiko stated excitedly. Finally she could get a word into the conversation!

"Yes," Freya answered, and Garnet realized that it meant that Fratley had chosen to leave her despite their already made plans to start a family. Anger boiled up in her as she realized that Freya probably would never see her children get married, because she had to chase him for almost five years. She really had to remind herself by their next meeting that he still didn't remember anything about his past.

* * *

Eiko yawned, too tired to hide it.

"Eiko dear, I think you should go to bed now." Hilda suggested, having seen her daughter struggle to stay awake for some time now, "Come, I'll tuck you i - uh!"

The women closest to her side, as the regent's wife held her hand on her lower back. The pained frown left her face as soon as she realized the worried looks she was getting from the group.

"No need too be concerned, this things come with age." she chuckled placating.

"Then I'll take her to bed."

The women's attention changed instantly to Mikoto's unexpected offer. Even Eiko was too perplexed to protest.

"Ehm... sure, thank you dear. Eiko," the girl went to her mother and kissed her good night, "be a good girl, will you?"

She nodded, but still didn't look too pleased with the arrangement.

Once the two girls had closed the door behind them, Eiko stopped following the teen and crossed her arms in a stubborn manner.

"What is it now?"

"Why do you bother? Surely not to do me or mother a favor." the girl stated, daring the older one to lie to her.

"You are correct, I'm not."

Eiko looked pleased. Granted, she still doesn't know any more about the 'why'-part, but had been dead on the other things.

"I'm doing this as a favor to your cousin."

The smug smile left the pre-teen-teen's face and was replaced by a skeptical, yet confused expression.

"It appears to be the tradition of this continent to explain the workings of the reproductive process to the bride on the night before her wedding, which hadn't been done yet, because of your presence - and apparently mine as well."

It took Eiko a moment to translate what she'd been told, but then she understood.

"Ah! You mean they're telling Dagger where babies come from?"

Mikoto rolled her eyes. Only a Gaia could come up with such an unspecific euphemism.

"Yes."

"But they could have done that while I was there! Chimomo told me about that aaaaaages ago!"

The Genome rose an eyebrow, not quite sure what to expect next.

Eiko continued.

"She said it was easy. When two people reeeally like each other, they only have to solve some kind of jigsaw puzzle and call upon the Great Moogle. Then he'll give them a little bundle with the baby inside. That's all!"

"The Great Moogle'... yeah, that's exactly what happened." she decided to not think too deeply into the puff-balled-creature's lecture, since she was quite fond of her sanity.

"You think they'll tell her know?" the girl asked, the other's sarcasm being lost on her

They'll probably wait a few more stories to make sure you little nag aren't eavesdropping!, the blond thought, but only shrugged her shoulders as an answer.

"Ow, come on! You're always acting all grown up, but I bet you are just as curious as I am!"

Mikoto sighed loudly, knowing she'd never get this annoying Gaian into her bedroom, if she didn't play along.

"When I say 'Go!' you'll come with me immediately, are we clear on that?"

Eiko grinned and nodded.

So they both put their ears against the wooden door and listened to another of Hilda's stories.

During a small moment, when she felt unobserved, Mikoto allowed herself an amused smile.

* * *

"You know, you are missing out on a really great show." Blank told his brother, leaning casually on the hind legs of his chair, backrest against the back wall.

"Don't care." the blond mumbled, sitting crouched over with his head pressed firmly against said wall. He'd long since lost all hope they'd be leaving this place anytime soon.

"Ya know," the redhead continued the conversation casually, unfazed by Zidane's foul mood, "She's a smart one, she'll probably know we're doing something like this. Isn't called 'stag night' for nothing."

The Genome only 'hmm'ed as an answer. He wasn't sure yet, if this should make him feel better or worse.

* * *

Hi there I hope you all enjoyed my longest chapter! (Yay!)

Anyway, I'm sure all of you have an opinion on the stuff you just read in like twenty something minutes and can spare a few seconds to leave a small comment.

Don't be like "someone else is gonna say what I think" because honestly? That's what most people think and the reason nothing ever gets done!

At that note: Thank you for your review! Have a great day! :D


	30. Union

**Content**

Author's note

Disclaimer

Chapter 29 – Union

* * *

**Author's Note**

Yeah, I'm still out there... somewhere ;-)

This chapter's song is "The first time ever I saw your face" by Gregorian AND by Josh Krajcik (the first gives you the atmosphere of the cathedral, but the second one I truely love!)

This chapter is dedicated to... everyone who hasn't given up on this story!

PS: Since "Nerver begin at the beginning!" is a rule I grew kinda fond of, I added a small paragraph to the prologue. Nothing too big, just to let you know.

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.

* * *

**Chapter 29 – Union**

"A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendships, all the enjoyment of sense and reason - and indeed all the sweets of life. - J. Addison

* * *

"Rise and shiiiiiine!" an over-cheerfully voice called.

"Hmmp hm!" at one time, the sound might have been rude words, but it was successfully censored

by a pillow.

"Get up, you lazy bum or I swear I'll let you sleep until Garnet comes to strangle you for her ruined

wedding!"

"W-wedding?" Zidane shot up with a start, looking around in alarm and calmed as he noticed his

surrounding was still dark.

_Why would anyone want to get hitched before sunrise?, _he thought disgruntled, _Stupid Alexandrian tradition!_

"Finally! I swear the palace-life has made you even lazier than before, as unbelievable as it sounds."

Zidane did not listen to Blank's complain. He had been told a lazy whatever more often than he could count. Instead he looked cross eyed at the stalactite that reached almost down to his nose.

"Man, where are we?"

"You seriously don't remember?"

The Genome shook his head numbly, already disliking the implication in his brother's voice.

"Last night, you pretty much grabbed the wrong glass and... well let's say it was quiet entertaining."

the older man smirked, close to laughter.

Meanwhile Zidane's complexion turned a deathly pale shade.

"Did anyone...?"

"Na, don't fret! No one recognized you and we got you under control before anything really bad

happened."

Turquoise eyes widened, but the red head put his concerns off with a swap of his hand.

"By the way: You owe Ruby big time! She organized a diversionary maneuver... just wow!"

Zidane rolled his eyes and focused them away from the drop-stone to a small table on the right were

some bread and cheese lay next to a lit candle.

"Ok, I'll make sure to get her something shiny. So, where are we again?"

"In a cave."

A growl rose in Zidane's throat. Couldn't he get just one straight answer today?

"You get ready, I'll talk. Freezing spring water to you right, cloths to your left!"

The blonde sighed resigned and walked closer to the table on his way to the water.

"Remember, no breakfast for you!" Blank reminded him once more without the slightest hint of pity.

_Stupid, stupid tradition!_

* * *

"You look absolutely magnificent, Dag!"

"Very beautiful!" Hilda agreed with her daughter as she stroked some non-existend wrinkles out the

white fabric.

Garnet blushed and turned towards the floor length mirror. At first glance the dress was quite plane

– as tradition called for it, but by closer inspection one could see the fine white lace, embroidery,

tiny pearls and colorless gems that were stitched on in a flowing floral pattern.

Her hair was done up in interwoven braids, similar to the silver crown she'd worn when Zidane had

returned. A fine hairnet with white pearls and tiny silk roses covered her hair like a dew droplets

covered spider web.

The bride watched in the mirror, as the door to the grand fitting room opened – allowing the sound

of bustling servants to enter for a short time – and her Maid of Honor stepped inside. She held a

small black velvet box in her hands and made eye-contact with the queen through the mirror.

The whole room held its breath as the box was opened to reveal a veil with such delicate

embroidering that it did not have to hide in the shadow of the dress' beauty.

Garnet bowed down to the Genome who attached the mist-like fabric to her head. Some giggles

echoed through the room during the process, since the size difference of the two women was

even more stressed than usual due to the fact that the brunette had been placed on a small pedestal

"When I'm gonna marry, I want to look as beautiful as you do!" Eiko exclaimed, followed by an

excited chorus of 'Me too, me too!'s from Freya's daughters.

* * *

Zidane carefully made his way bare foot through the dark cave where the ceremony was held. He could feel the stares of the crowd whereas he was blinded by Blank's candle at his side. At least the thought that his friends were somewhere in the masses made him feel better.

His stomach growled demandingly and the thought that he wouldn't get fed until after sundown was even worse.

_Stupid tradition!_

Blank guided him to his place in front of the shimmering altar before he took his stand a little farther to the right, taking the light with him.

A second light appeared on the other side of the hall, shortly bathing the people at the side in warm light. Calmly Mikoto joined the two man and the waiting began anew. She wore the traditional bride maid's dress: a plain white, waisted tunic with no sleeves, that reached down to her knees.

A moving ocean of lights entered from the back of the cathedral, illuminating the sparkling

walls and assemblage of people who were about to witness the new union. The light bearers were all girls, and Zidane was surprised how many there were. Eiko walked at the front, the rat girls at the sides and dozens of noble-daughters formed the end. One after the other, the lights separated from their formation to stand at the side of the aisle.

'Its looks like an air-ship landing stripe.' Zidane thought with a grin, before his attention was

captured by a white spot in the shadows.

With even steps, Garnet walked – almost floated - towards the altar. She walked alone in contribution to her status as queen and to express her free will, therefore no one was going to "hand her over" to her groom.

It seemed like hours before she reached her place on her fiancé's left. She looked at him through the veil. It filled her with great satisfaction to see him struggle to keep his mouth closed as he starred at her. She handed her Maid of Honor the banquet of white roses and lilies.

The priest cleared his throat slightly to get the general attention.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of our loving goddess Gaia to join

together this man and this woman in holy matrimony; which is an honorable estate, instituted of Her

and into which holy estate these two people present come now to be joined. Therefore if any man

can name any just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, by the goddess' law, or the

laws of the realm of Alexandria and the Southern Continent; let him now speak, or else hereafter

forever hold his peace."

He paused and waited for anyone who might interfere. When there was no sigh of disapproval, he

once again turned to the pair, noticing with a silent sigh that he had already lost the groom's

attention.

"I require and charge you both, as ye will answer at the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets

of all hearts shall be disclosed, that if either of you know any impediment, why ye may not be

lawfully joined together in matrimony, that ye confess it. For ye be well assured, that so many as be

coupled together otherwise than the goddess' word doth allow are not joined together by the All-knowing; neither is their Matrimony lawful."

Another pause. Silence again.

"Zidane Tribal," he began, finally being noticed again by the young man," wilt thou have this

woman to be thy wedded wife, to live together after the divine ordinance in the holy estate of

matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her, in sickness and in health; and

forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?"

Zidane didn't answer right away. Yes, that was all he ever wanted and more. He turned towards her,

because this answer was just for her.

"I will."

The priest nodded and turned to the bride, "Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, wilt thou have this man to

be thy wedded husband, to live together after the divine ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony?

Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and,

forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?"

The seconds it took her to answer felt like decades to the former thief.

"I will."

The Minister nodded again.

Zidane knew now was the time he was allowed to lift the veil to really look at his bride. In his eyes,

Dagger hat always been beautiful, whether her hair was long or short, be her face covered in powder

or mud. The amount of beauty he saw now was indescribable. The only thing missing to prove she

was an angel was the halo. In the light of dozens of candles, Garnet appeared to glow herself. In her

big brown eyes burnt a fire he felt in himself as well. He smirked reassuringly at her. She smiled

back.

The priest held out both hands and the betrothed laid their right hand into his like a single

person, before he connected them.

"Have you each prepared your pledge?" he asked and for the first time in his life Zidane was glad

he had began to learn his lines weeks ago - he usually didn't look at a skript until it was high time - otherwise he might have had a black out right then and there. With a voice that betrayed his dry mouth, he recited the traditional pledge.

"I, Zidane Tribal, take thee Garnet Til Alexandros XVII to my wedded wife, to have and to hold

from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, for fairer or fouler, in sickness and

in health, to love and to cherish, till death does us depart, according to Gaia's holy ordinance; and

thereunto I plight thee my troth."

Blank was glad to hear the fine shaking in his bro's voice. He would have been worried if the kid

hadn't been the least bit scared, taking such a big step. A particular sniffle in the crowd

caught his attention; he smiled. He couldn't see Ruby in the dark crowd, yet knew she felt the same.

Zidane deserved all of this; after years and years of hearing about that particular place they were all

looking for, he had found "the place he belonged to". Then his glance went over to Mikoto. Hadn't he come to know her as good as he had, he might have thought she wasn't interested in the ceremony. But there were those little things - the smile that was almost hidden in the shadows, the soft expression in her eyes - that showed him how she truely felt.

"... and thereunto I plight thee my troth."

Reluctantly, the pair released the other's hand. On cue, Mikoto stepped forward and handed the holy

man a white, open velvet box with two gold bands that bore the Alexandrian crest on them. He accepted it and began his blessing.

"Bless these Rings, O merciful Gaia, that those who wear them, that give and receive them, may be

ever faithful to one another, remain in your peace, and live and grow old together in your love,

under their own vine and fig tree, and seeing their children's children.", before holding the rings in

Zidane's reach.

"With this Ring I thee wed,", he placed the ring on her thumb,"and with my body I thee honor,", her

index finger,"and with all my worldly goods I thee endow." and finally her ring finger, where it was

to stay for the rest of her life.

Now that she repeated his words, Garnet realized that his hand shook as much as her own. She

smiled. She took a moment to appreciate the view of the ring on his finger and her own. He had

given her his heart and biggest treasure months ago, but it filled her with satisfaction to have

everyone see it now.

"Let us pray." the priest said, as the company and couple knelt before him,"O Eternal Goddess,

Creator and Preserver of all living things, Giver of all spiritual grace, the Author of everlasting life, brightest star in the sky; Send thy blessings upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless in thy name; so these persons may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant betwixt them made, whereof this Ring given and received is a token and pledge, and may ever hereafter remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy laws."

The man lifted the interlinked hand's of those before him up high,"Those whom Gaia hath joined

together let no man put asunder."

He paused, to vest his words even more weight. Before he spoke to the couple again.

"Take each your light, provided by those you entrusted it with to hold on to it. The flame is your life, the light that will one day shine down from the night sky; at times burning proudly, at times trembling in the draft; Savest in the hands of true friends and family, who feed it with their own fire while being fed all the same."

As they both held their candle in their hands, he turned to take an unlit candle from the altar that was bigger than the two others combined.

"But even all the help they can give won't let your small candle burn for too long. Now it is time to shine in a different light, because you - as husband and wife - will start a new strong flame. Light it now!"

Slowly the lovers neared the thick wick until it was right between the smaller ones. At first nothing happened, then the big candle caught fire, while the small lights went out for good.

It felt like a gigantic weight had been lifted off the crowd's back.

"Forasmuch as Zidane and Garnet XVI have consented together in holy wedlock, and have

witnessed the same before Gaia and this company, and thereto have given and pledged their troth

each to the other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, birthing a new light and by joining of hands; I pronounce therefore that they be Man and Wife together, in the name of our goddess. You may rise."

Zidane helped his wife – his wife, he couldn't believe his luck! - to her feed. Their eyes met – both

sparkling with the early sun's light – and Zidane softly stroke her cheek before leaning in for the

sealing kiss.

Behind them the first sunbeams shone through the now translucent crystal wall.

* * *

One by one the small flames of the light bearers' followed a long hallway, leading the newlyweds away from the priest to the chamber, that would be witness to their final step in their marriage.

By the time they were finally allowed to enter, the small cavern was thoughtfully decorated by the bride maid's candles, each representing one happy year of marriage. It must have been more than one hundred, but out of all of them, one meant more to the couple than any other: it stood in front of a long mirror, decorated with a pale pink hair-ribbon.

The doors closed and the sound of a key turning the lock was heard; leaving footsteps. They were alone.

Garnet still stared at the ribbon, too lost in her thoughts to see it. Suddenly it occurred to her: They'd done it! Against all odds they were finally married! Well, almost...

"Wow, that's a lot nicer than it looks!" Zidane shouted enthusiastically, effectively catching her attention.

"Hmm...?" she turned just in time to see her new husband somersaulting between jumps on the double bed, enjoying himself immensely. A few years ago she might have been shocked by someone disregarding the solemn silence of the temple, but now it made her laugh.

"Come on, Dag, join me!" his eyes sparkled with excitement as he held his hand out to her. Her first bounces were done slowly and her hands held on to his firmly. She could feel his warm breath on her cheeks as they're feet left the blankets for longer and longer times before sinking into the mattress again and again.

When Zidane felt they had had enough exercise, he grabbed her by the waist and let himself fall backwards. With a satisfying 'aaah!' the brunette landed right on top of him, breathing hard. Several locks of her ebony hair had come loose and tickled his nose. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips looked like rose petals.

He couldn't resist any longer. He lifted himself into half sitting position, feeling her knees slide nicely to either side of his body, as the sudden movement unsettled Garnet's balance. Before she could reposition, he embraced her passionately. She felt his hands on her bare neck and shoulders, the fabric on her back, legs... everywhere at once, as he kissed her like something in him had been freed after a long wait.

The roaming of his hands stopped. She felt a wicked grin against her lips.

He had found the lacing.

* * *

Thanks for reading, please leave a review!


	31. A Dream come True

Content  
Author's note  
Disclaimer  
Chapter 30 -A Dream come True

* * *

**Author's Note**

An update!

No time to waste, have fun reading and writing a comment!

The next chapter is in progress, but it'll take some time (like you are not used to that... XD )

* * *

**Disclaimer**

Final Fantasy IX (and all related content) belongs to Square Soft/Square Enix.  
Chapter 30 - Dreams

* * *

**Chapter 30 - A Dream come True  
**

You can't be in the public eye without [...] having people analyze everything you do.

S. Crow

* * *

She was in a cave.

She'd been in this place before, but this time the frozen flora missed it's incredible beauty. All that was left was the cold. A ray of light appeared and formed a the new path.

Outside, the light was blinding. Slowly her dark eyes got used to it and focused on a shimmering wall in front of her. Individual ice crystals became visible and, as she watched, very few of them turned a bloody red, making them look like ruby drops in a mass of diamonds.

A movement behind the wall woke her from her fascinated stare. She barely saw his outlines, but she knew it was Zidane and her heart quickened.

Garnet woke quickly from her slumber as the odd sensation of being tickled made itself known in her sleepy thoughts.

Her surrounding was still a cave, but a cozy one. She sat up and watched the hairy snake move lazily over the covers, still feeling the soft texture on her arm.

* * *

"No way! That's a joke right?"

Garnet stepped next to her husband and laughed at the way he held the formal dress as far away as he could, making a face like it was a week-old fish.

"I'm afraid not. But believe me, all nobles will swear it looks to die for."

"Great, everyone else will die laughing!"

* * *

Monique de Lairén gnawed on her bottom lip as she scanned the book spines.

Somewhere in the house a door slammed shut. A heartbeat later, a loud smashing sounded right next to her. The woman looked up from the shelf and stared right into the wide opened eyes of the young maid.

"Clumsy thing, get out!" she snarled under her breath and watched the girl hastily pick up the porcelain shards before she fled the room.

Truthfully, she was neither sad about the smashed vase, nor could she blame the young thing for her jumpiness. The atmosphere of the room was stretched to breaking point. For hours now her husband sat in his armchair and waited for Nathan. And he disliked nothing as much as being kept waiting. Outside the public eye he also didn't bother to keep his powers under control. With this powers of his, he was able to manipulate whole crowds' emotions at will.

The door to the fireplace room opened and the young man walked in with pure nonchalance, as if he was immune to the lord's power.

Monique on the other hand was immune to neither man's powers for now she was caught in the chaotic twister of anger and rapture.

The old man smoked his pipe, unfazed by the indifferent youth in front of him.

"You have kept me waiting, Nathan."

The younger shrugged, "I've been busy."

Overpowering fear made Monique's heart race. Drops of cold sweat run down her chubby cheeks.

"I saved you three dances on Ms. Tribal's card for tonight."

Nathan nodded wordlessly.

"I expect you to make good use of this time."

Amethyst orbs narrowed into slits and a wave of anger was aimed at Lord de Lairén, an act easily countered by a wall of dominance. Nathan growled before he finally bowed. He had never taken much interest in transmitting negative feelings – he had better methods to get what he wanted – but this attitude seemed to have it's faults after all.

Lady de Lairén gasped before she fell to the ground with a dull sound. No one took notice.

"One more thing, Nathan. Take this."

He handed the young man a pinky sized phial that contained a pale red liquid.

"Remember, just one drop. It will make her dizzy, she might faint."

"How long until it takes effect?"

"Half a chime."

"I will be in place." he bowed crossly and left, closing the door behind him.

"Dahlia!" the old man shouted and the young maid appeared promptly in the doorway.

"Yes, Milord."

"Take her away." he ordered, gesticulating disparagingly at the place next to the bookshelf before he left.

* * *

"Miss Mikoto!" the shrill shout echoed through the hall, leaving no doubt that she had been spotted despite her best efforts.

A small group of girls in crinkly silk caught up to the young genome, giggling all the way.

"Oh, wasn't the ceremony beautiful?" the first girl asked, still raptured by the ceremony she'd witnessed mere hours ago.

Rose was the loudest, most dressed up and richest of the bunch, which somehow made her the leader. Her dress was a screaming pink and her face chalk-white with powder.

Mikoto nodded absent mindedly, thinking of a way to get herself out of the group.

„I can't wait to get to the ball. Are you not excited? Your brother might choose your husband tonight."

This statement caught the blond's attention. She knew Zidane wanted her to stay in Alexandria – away from their soulless kin, away from her duties. But was he willing to marry her off to fulfill this wish? She wasn't sure anymore...

She covered her thoughts with a fake smile. „Your father might, too."

„We will have to wait and see." Rose said, clicking her fan shut. Her smile looked sour.

„Please excuse me, I have an appointment that cannot wait. I will surely see you tonight, Miss Tribal." she turned on her clicking heal and was quickly followed by her companions.

* * *

Glad to have escaped, Mikoto went back to her room, determined to use the servant-tunnels next time she planned to leave her chamber.

She stopped mid-thought as she noticed a presence inside the room. Quiet as a cat she stepped closer to the door and opened it as fast as she could. A shriek of surprise and pain echoed from the stone walls. The chimney burst into flames. A fast evaporating line of smoke connected the fireplace and the maid's hand.

The blond chided herself for letting the all-present paranoia at court get to her, while the lanky servant girl stuttered one apology after another.

"Leíla, wasn't it?" the maid fell silent, more than surprised that a noble – royal! - woman like the Queen's sister-in-law, a princess herself, would bother to remember her name.

"Please, let me see." the healer guided the shell-shocked teen to a chair. When she sat down, she held a small cream-jar and bandage rolls in her hand. She had noticed the burned skin on the younger one's hand and washed the wound in silence.

"Did you work yesterday?" the genome asked, trying to sound casual.

The brunette nodded, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"I hid in the stables when... everyone began to act... strange" she confessed after some time. She always felt like the Lady in front of her could see inside her head, therefore lying was not an option.

„Was there anyone else with you?"

The girl blushed, before she turned pale.

„I apologize, that was not what I meant." Mikoto said, realizing her mistake.

„N... No, I know. Squire Jason was there too, for a while, then he went to search for others... who weren't affected."

„'Others', did he find them?"

„I don't know, maybe. I'm not even sure, why we didn't act... like that as well."

Neither did Mikoto, but she began to get a pretty good idea.

"You did right. I won't tell." she smiled, hoping it would do to placate the girl. Her work was done and she stood up.

Leíla bowed and left the room via the small hidden door in the back wall.

Mikoto stared into the growing flames; a small trace of magic was left in the air. Then her eyes fell on one of the glass bottles filled with Blank's potions.

* * *

„They're coming!"

This was the moment all of Alexandria had longed for. The streets were decorated with flower garlands, white ribbons and thousands of lanterns. A large crowed waited on the side of the main street that lead from the city's gate to the palace entrance, each of them carefully holding a white lantern. There wasn't one window without at least five pair of eyes trying to get a glimpse at the open carriage.

The dog-boy's ecstatic shouts were soon drowned out by the cheers of the first witnesses.

* * *

The sundown's bright colors had just faded from the horizon and there was little to see in the dark except a small light in the far distance. Their destination.

Suddenly, the light began to grow in height. Zidane set up straight, unintentionally taking some of the blanket with him, that kept him and his wife protected from the early night chill.

Garnet woke from her daydream and followed his stare in alarm. The light had risen high above the Castle and floated slowly towards their small carriage, like a snake on a lazy afternoon. She laid a hand on his shoulder. His tail bristled up next to her.

„The lights help us find the way. Its tradition."

She felt his shoulders relax and a curiosity replaced the suspiciousness in his eyes.

The warm light of candles, oil lamps and the sun had fascinated him since childhood. After his experience with Terra's cold, painful light, he knew why. But this massive ocean of flying lights was the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen.

Garnet felt his tail flick from time to time like a lurking cat's. With a relaxed smile, she cuddled closer to him, enjoying his sturdy heartbeat and the little time they had left in silence.

* * *

Steiner's eyes narrowed as they entered the shadow of the lighted city-wall. He had to concentrate hard to keep his thoughts from wandering off to... her.

„Keep focused, Adelbert!" he chided himself in his thoughts,"It is your responsibility to keep all harm away from the Queen – and King!" he nodded to himself.

A few glances was all it took to reposition his knights. Nothing would ruin this triumphal day.

* * *

„Lords and Ladies, bow to our beloved Queen Garnet til Alexandros XVII and her new husband, Prince consort Zidane til Alexandros the first!"

Garnet pressed his hand encouraging as the grand doors opened and they entered the great hall. The inside looked like a messy rainbow of silk and satin. Every noble and high ranked person on Gaia seemed to have come tonight, to get a closer look.

They had changed clothes according to protocol. The pure white of their garments had changed into rich mature ones like red, blue and gold. Garnet was now dressed in an ostentatious red and gold dress that left no doubt that she was in charge. Zidane's attire was held in dark blue, white and gold with some red details. He felt weird wearing britches, knee-long socks and shoes with a heel. The jacket was ok, but the only thing he really liked about his new outfit was the collar, which was in his usual style.

While they walked to their seats at the head of the room, were two thrones stood, Zidane tried to find a familiar face in the crowd. They had asked for a masked ball, an 'old tradition of the western continent', of course. Now it was easy for his – now „unofficial" - friends to be part of his wedding. He found one: Ruby. He recognized her, not because she looked off among the nobles, but because she looked outstandingly beautiful in her puffy blood red silk dress with black lace and feathers. She winked at him from underneath her mask.

* * *

„It was an honor to dance with you, Ms. Tribal." the young man bowed and blew a formal kiss on her hand.

„It was my pleasure, Mr. de Monique." Mikoto answered politely, inconspicuous moving her toes within her shoes to ease the pain he had caused by stepping on her feet repeatedly.

As soon as he was out of sight, she took the dance card with her name on it from the table and counted. Seven done, fifteen left. She sighed, mystified of how Zidane had talked her into this. Her next dance partner was... Nathan de Laíren, again.

He'd been her third dance tonight. He really was the best dancer by far and his charm was famous among the ladies. He hadn't tried to convince her of his qualities like the others. They both knew he had almost become Prince Consort, and if he was (almost) good enough for a queen, he surely was a good match for just about anyone.

„Milady?" a smooth voice called her out of her thoughts.

She turned and came face to face with the young de Laíren. He bowed with a smile. „I believe I have the next two dances," he paused, sending her feet a meaningful look as he continued,"but I think we both could make good use of a little break." He held his arm for her to take and guided her to a small table at the back of the room.

„To the King and Queen!" he said, placing two glasses on the table. Mikoto eyed the red liquid.

„Do not worry. It's just cherry juice and water, I went to the kitchen myself." he said calmly and raised his glass. She carefully clinked her gas against his and took a small sip.  
Nathan watched her over the rim of his glass. Pleased by the sweetness of her drink, she took another sip.

He smiled.

They sat there for a while, mostly watching the people dance, chatter and eat. Time seemed to stand still as she watched him from the corner of her eye. Doing close to nothing didn't speed it up and she decided to get into action again.

„I think I still owe you a dance." the blonde said and stood up as the musicians began a new melody. A misty veil covered her vision for a second, then it was gone.

„Are you feeling all right?" he asked concerned, standing close to her as to not call attention to themselves,"Maybe you'd like to get some fresh air?"

„No, I feel fine." she answered, urging him towards the crowd.

* * *

"Oh, that guy again?" Ruby stated dismayed in an ordinary, accent free voice.

Tonight she planned on being as inconspicuous as possible. Well, at least as inconspicuous as one could be with a red and black mask and matching head with feathers big enough to outdo most of the noble ladies'.

It took Blank a while, before he found the indicated man in the crowd. He was already in a foul mood, because his simple white mask, that covered the upper half of his face, cut his field of vision even smaller than it usually was. Therefore, he couldn't quite hide the uprising snarl in his throat, as he saw - once more - Nathan de Lairén dancing with Mikoto.

"My, my, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're jealous!" she smirked with a childish squeak of joy.

"That's it, no more wine for you!" he took her glass and pressed it in a bypassing servant's hand. This earned him just a 'Got ya' smile from the female.

"What? Do you have secret fantasies of Zidane strangling me? Besides, I didn't say anything about the other five at all."

"You counted?" Ruby giggled.

"Arg, woman!" Blank decided to leave her to her delusions and go to someone he could actually help.

He marched more or less straight through the dancing mass.

"Excuse me," Blank tapped on the other man's shoulder,"tradition calls for the Best Man's dance with the Maid of Honor."

Without as much as a glance over his shoulder the young Mr. de Lairén nodded, bowed and placed a possessive kissed his partner's hand, before he vanished in the mob that occupied the dance floor.

"What a creep!" Mikoto thought at the same time she heard the red head whisper the very same thing.

They bowed to each other, before he placed his right palm against her left. The music restarted, and they began to rhythmically step closer to each other and away again, never separating their high held hands.

Blank smiled at her as they danced. Mikoto's outfit was held in soft rosé and gold, matching her fine blush and golden hair.

The music changed to a slower rhythm, drastically closing the distance between the dancers.

"There is no such tradition." Mikoto chided without any real disapproval.

"There is now." he winked, delighted as his comment earned him a laugh.

* * *

"Mikoto seems more relaxed than usual." Garnet noted.

Zidane nodded absentmindedly, about to loose the fight of eating a fried chicken wing with knife and fork.

"They look good together." she continued.

"Huh?" he turned to see which man had forced himself on his little sister now. When his eyes were met with the familiar outlines of his bro, he shrugged his shoulders, dismissing the topic.

"You are seeing things!"

Garnet wasn't so sure, as the man leaned closer to the blond girl, whispering something in her ear, that made her laugh and nod in confirmation.

* * *

Aggravated he stormed out of the Grand Hall. It was impossible, just unbelievable! Every time he was - this! -close to his goals, that guy bumped in and ruined everything!

"Oh, Nathan, wait for me!"

He stopped his march unwillingly, rolled his eyes at the forcefully high pitched voice, before he turned and smiled.

Rosaline Mayflower breathed hard as she finally caught up to him. She looked up at him, battering her eyelashes ridiculously as a thick cloud of perfume hit him.

"Rosé, what are you doing out here?" he asked concerned, placing a hand on both her bare shoulders. She blushed and looked at her feet coquettish. "You're father will be very worried; not every man in this castle is a gentleman!"

"I... I know, but when I saw you leaving... I just had to..." before she could finish, two strong arms embraced her.

"Sh, sh, I understand. Let's go to the balcony. If people were to see us like this..." he whispered the last part, already leading the way.

"Eh, right." she agreed, blushing profoundly.

"So, how was your night thus far?" he asked, trying to keep track of the time he had left while the girl gushed like a water fall.

"And your friend, Ms. Tribal, how is she?"

Rosaline's expression changed instantly, "I wouldn't call her my friend per se, but it's... 'lucrative' to stay close to her, father says. You danced a lot with her tonight." she ended sulkily.

"My father arranged it, you know that." his tender voice was ointment on her ego.

"She is weird, like she doesn't care what people think, can you imagine? And then all the time she spends with this one guy... unsupervised and no one seems to think of it as objectionable!"

Nathan frowned scandalized, while being secretly amused by the ironic situation the girl had brought herself in. Her father didn't know half of what she did when unsupervised...

"And tonight?" he asked, getting tired of her hypocrisy.

"I think she drank too much, she didn't look good the last time I saw her."

"Well, that's too bad." he dropped the topic and caressed her powdery cheek,"I'm afraid you really have to go back now before they start looking for you."

"Will I see you later?" she asked, trying to sound seductive.

"Maybe."

* * *

While Mikoto watched Blank maneuver through the room, the sounds began to blur inside her head. She had managed to convince him that dancing with Ruby was the best way to keep the lusting crowd of men following the actress at bay.

Until tonight the blond girl had never thought that two people could dance in perfect harmony while bickering constantly.

* * *

The genome took a deep, liberating breath as the heavy oak doors closed behind her.

The warm, stale air, combined with the smells of food and alcohol inside the ballroom had started to make her feel sick. All she wanted was silence and fresh air.

Reluctantly she turned away from the path that promised the later and hid in the shadow as a bright pink, princess style dress passed her hiding spot and vanished into the ball room.

She'd escaped Rosaline once more.

She walked through the familiar corridors, heading for her new room in the guest wing. Her old one was still being repaired after the guards' attack.

* * *

The guest wing was empty and the festival's music barely audible. The perfect place to think and bite one's time.

Nathan was sure the blond would go here as soon as she began to feel the drink's effect. And then...

He smirked.

His Lord's goal was simply to get a foot into the royal family, but he reached higher. It would be the sweetest revenge he could imagine. She would fall prey to the power his voice held, like all the other stupid girls. As soon as his seed bore fruit, there would be no way around a marriage. That monkey even had to consent the engagement himself!

He chuckled into his fist.

Making her his property will kill him a little more, as well as every tiny step his child would take in his presence.

But maybe, the rumors about the little wrench and that street rat were true after all.

He could care less, but the result would be even tastier. He himself would be the poor linked man who honored his pledge too much to divorce a wife that slept around. The king would hate his best friend, who would have a child that was raised to despise him. He would ship the girl to some country estate and enjoy all the pleasures Treno had to offer. A dream come true.

While he still reveled in his dreams, foot steps closed in on him.

The steps slowed and stopped right next to the niche he was in.

"You don't look too good, Miss Tribal." he commented, as he stepped closer to the figure supporting herself on the wall.

Mikoto instantly straightened her posture, ignoring her nausea.


	32. Thrown Into Cold Water

Author's Note

Hi there!

Thanks to all my friendly reviewers for their support, I truly enjoy reading your thoughts.

On a different note, I have to admit, that affronting reviews will be deleted (as I have) and do nothing to make my chapters be posted faster. There will be a new one sooner or later, so deal with it or stop reading!

Anyway, the written part of my state examination will begin next week and I'm currently very busy keeping myself distracted from studying *drop*

Have fun reading and leave a review please.

* * *

Chapter 31 - Thrown Into Cold Water

„Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape."

William S. Burroughs

* * *

Ting. Ting. Ting.

The Grand Hall fell silent as everyone focused their attention at the front where Lord de Laíren stood. When he felt the general attention on himself, he lowered the wine glass and placed it together with the silver spoon on the table.

„Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, Lords and Ladies, Your Highnesses." he locked eyes with Garnet and bowed respectfully,"This is a glorious day to all of us! But so far, very little has been said. We who are already married know: after a wedding, words may wait, an empty stomach can not."

The crowed laughed, remembering the time the Alexandrian traditions had forced them to hunger on their wedding day.

„Now that we have all enjoyed food and wine, and amused ourselves with music and dances, I feel honored be the one to first congratulate the newlyweds."

The guests clapped their hands in approval.

Zidane shared a quick glance with Garnet next to him and Blank in the front row. What was this man trying to achieve by suddenly supporting their union in such high notes? He hadn't looked at Zidane once since he denied the lord's son his sister's hand in marriage months ago and had then been everything but supportive ever since.

„And I especially want to show my appreciation to our new Prince Consort. It is no secret that I was in doubt of this union, but now that I see my radiant Queen, it is my wish to express, that my family is, was and always will be loyal to the crown!"

The crowd cheered and applauded loudly.

Blank pursed his lips sardonically. The Lord's words had been as hollow as they had been mordant. There was no crown for a Prince Consort, therefore he had – once again – excluded Zidane from deference.

* * *

"You don't look too good, Miss Tribal." Nathan de Laíren commented, as he stepped closer to the figure supporting herself on the wall.

Mikoto instantly straightened her posture, ignoring her nausea.

„I'm just tired."

„You shouldn't walk the corridors by yourself, there are too many strangers wandering the halls as of late." Nathan appeared at her side, supporting her.

Her first instinct was to get free of his hold, when a new wave of dizziness hit only thing she wanted less than being alone with this man, was laying on the ground to his feed in an empty corridor.

He kept talking, but his words lost more and more meaning and cohesiveness as they walked. Instead she found herself leaning closer to him, close enough to smell his shaving soap and the fine trace of wine in his breath.

They had just turned a corner as his steps came to a stop. Without a warning his arms enclosed her.

She stayed non-responsive, unable to think clearly.

„Please forgive my forwardness." he whispered into her ears,"I wanted this for a long time."

Mikoto's heart beat faster. She could feel the heat in her cheeks and a soft twisting in her abdomen.

Her head had cleared a little from the walk. Now she was left with contradicting emotions. She felt nothing for this man – at least nothing positive - yet her body acted differently. Very differently.

In the back corner of her consciousness, an alarm-bell sounded and was slowly reaching through the veil that clouded her mind. Her ability to detect magic.

* * *

Inspired by the first speech, several nobles took the chance to get into the center of attention.

Zidane's eyes wandered through the crowd, looking for his sister. Their mind-bond was blocked at the moment, to keep his memories of the last hours he had spent with his wife out of her mind. A circumstance that became more frustrating by the minute, as he sensed... something. The emotion was too damn fuzzy to pin point, leaving him with a feeling of great unease.

Ruby caught his roaming eyes and understood. He had always been very protective of the women in his life, therefore she knew that expression very well.

She tugged on Blank's black sleeve for him to bend down enough that she could whisper into his ear. Her companion looked around and let himself fall out of the front of the crowd, which was an easy act, since the nobles were more than eager to take his place.

As he reached the table with the dance-cards, he went straight for Mikoto's.

„She's not here." a voice informed him. He turned and was met with a masked teenage face.

„Pardon me. My name is Jos de Caren," he lifted his purple mask,"She left some time ago through the main entrance of the hall. I have been waiting for her ever since." He looked disappointed.

Blank took a short look at the card. The boy's name was on there all right, but his dance had long since past. It was unlike Mikoto to simply turn her back on her obligations.

„Thank you." he put the card back on the table and drifted back into the mass of people.

The thief walked to a window and looked into the gardens below. The snow covered the well kept footpaths and the ankle high hedge mazes so thickly, that they couldn't be told apart anymore.

Shivering by the idea of leaving the heated room, he took a closer look at the window construction. The curtains were fixed to the sides and as the next speech reached it's climax, he draw the silk-ribbons at the side of the fabric, vanished from sight unnoticed. Swiftly he opened the window and climbed on the outer windowsill. Mercifully, the snow had stopped falling.

* * *

He smirked. She was melting butter in his arms.

Out of the blue, she forcefully shoved him off her, making him stumble backwards. As he looked down at her, he found her eyes vivid and not as confused as he'd have liked, undeniable cleared of his influence. He suppressed a curse.

Calm down, he thought, this things do happen – rarely – but they do. Forcing a sad smile on his lips he held his hands in a beseeching gesture, feigning innocence.

The girl had one hand on the wall, breathing hard as her body was still fighting the poison.

He knew his best chance was to keep talking. Lulling her in until his powers reached her mind again and blocked all thoughts of morality. His only enemy in this mission was time, which slowly began to run out.

„Leave me alone!"

Anger boiled in his stomach as she raised her voice. If they were disturbed now, he would have to face severe consequences.

It's all or nothing now, was all he thought as he closed the distance between them.

He pressed her further against the wall – pinching her arms effectively behind her back – and ignored the smacking sound, as her head collided with the solid stone. For a few moments, her vision was obscured with black dots.

"Let go!" she demanded, struggling against his hold.

Nathan smirked, as her protest was drowned by thundering applause, as another speech neared its climax in the Grand Hall. He was still on schedule.

"Don't be like that..." he chided flirtatiously, about to caress her cheek with his index finger.

Mikoto snapped her teeth at him.

"Fine!" his charming demeanor dropped like a lead ball,"Did you think your little escapades to the tower with that filthy street-rat went unnoticed?"

She distastefully stared at him for the implied accusation and renewed her effort to struggle free of his hold. An attempt easily countered, as he simply used his weight to press her even more forcefully against the wall.

The applause continued, gaining in volume, before returning to muffles once again.

While her captor was concentrating on her arms and legs from causing harm, her extra appendage was occupied with the small holster on the inside of her calf.

"It's my turn now!" he declared, cruel lust shining in his eyes, as his hands left her shoulders and traveled south.

* * *

Blank stepped on the protrude stones that decorated the outer facade as easily as others might step on a bridge, his back to the wall. He carefully moved from window to window.

Lucky for him, the frequently visited balconies on the level beneath him were abandoned. He pushed away from the wall and – for a breathtaking moment – was suspended into free air. His hands and feet landed unerringly on the balcony-railing.

Looking up at the wall, he grinned, enjoying the rush of adrenaline in his system.

Casually he entered the guest wing through the balcony door. His feet carried him in the approximate direction he knew Mikoto's new room was in. The hallway wasn't fully lit, as the guests were not to go to bed until several hours from now.

The voices of two chattering guards reached his ears and he quickly dove into an unlit niche.

Old habits die hard, he thought as he stepped into the light again. He turned the corner near the two young men unnoticed in plain view, as they were too caught up in their conversation to notice about anything.

He'd have to have a serious talk about this with their superior.

* * *

Mikoto heard faint footsteps coming their way. It was now or never.

Nathan smiled victoriously. No one denied him. In the moment he lifted her skirts just above her knees, a loud yelp of surprise and pain escaped his lips.

Looking down in shock, he spotted a furry snake between her knees, poised to strike again. In its hold was a small, black knife.

"You bloody freak!" he thundered, as he felt blood tickling down his leg.

Mikoto had made sure to implant the blade in a very sensitive spot, just above the hollow of his knee.

Overwhelmed by anger and deeming all his plans lost, he decided he might at least take the cause down with him. His arm slid upward, the length of his forearm pressing against her slender neck.

A breathless cry of pain and the sound of metal shattering on stone echoed through the hall as the man stepped hard on the genome's tail, pinning it effectively to the ground.

* * *

The feeling Zidane had had before suddenly became more urgent. A single image managed to pass through the blocked link.

A man, a few years older than him with violet eyes and a smile that let his blood ran cold.

Images he had thought forgotten appeared in front of his eyes, letting him forget completely of the here and now.

Without an other thought, Zidane jumped off the throne and run out of the Grand Hall, unaware and uncaring of the shocked and confused silence he left in his wake.

* * *

The footsteps were getting louder and even on the edge of unconsciousness Mikoto realized that they gained in speed, leading directly to her.

She wasn't the only one who realized that, as her attacker was torn between finishing his job and running away as fast as he could.

Eventually he decided on the later.

The moment he let go of her, the blond girl slid to the ground, coughing and gripping her throat.

Blank arrived just in time to get a small glimpse of the running man. With fast footsteps in front and behind him, he only looked the blonde briefly over to convince himself she wasn't in immediate danger anymore, before he took up the pursuit.

Zidane reached her a few heart beats later. Once he was next to her, he drooped on his knees, breathing hard. Before he caught his breath enough to speak, he noticed his sister's eyes widen and felt her hand on his chest.

When she re-draw her hand, it was covered in fresh blood.

* * *

He could hear the other's steps so clearly, Blank was sure he would be able to see the other man as soon as he cleared the next corner. As he neared the other side of the hallway, where he knew the two guards to chat, he shouted at them to catch the fugitive.

They heard him and followed his order instantly, running slightly ahead of the red head. His bruised ribcage protested harshly by every breath he took.

They had passed the first balcony, from where one of the guards shouted into the garden for reenforcement. At the third balcony, the thief finally got a look at the caped silhouette, the very moment it swung itself over the railing. The second guard stopped perplex on said balcony, unsure what to do, as the dark figure recovered instantly from the fall from the first level and continued his escape.

Blank on the other hand had expected such acrobatics and shoved the guard harshly out of the way and duplicated the jump. The snow cushioned his fall, but stung his skin mercilessly as it got under his cloths during the roll that protected him from injuries. He followed the fresh footsteps, leaving behind two identical imprints in the snow.

Relieve washed over him, as he reached the gardens and saw a couple of guards cornering the well dressed man at the channel. They turned to him to see if he was friend or foe.

Just one second of carelessness...

With a desperate jump, the fugitive vanished into the pitch black stream.

On raw impulse, the red head went after him, feeling a thin ice sheet break into pieces as it came into contact with his body. The cold hit like a battering ram and knocked the air right out of his lungs. Regardless he tried to focus. Something in the water caught his eye. When he reached it, he realized it was only the noble's cloak that had gotten stuck somehow.

Furiously he hit the water with his fist, giving vent to his frustration.

Nathan de Laíren had literately submerged


	33. Scars

Author's Note

To be honest, I felt a little conflicted writing this chapter, or rather, HOW to write it. The flashback in this chapter (going a little into the next) contains a controversial subject, therefor (and to keep my rating down) I decided to write it through the eyes of a child. Now every one of you can decide whether to read between the lines or not.

For those who care to know: this story was actually announced twice by the characters (Blank/Marcus in Preparations and Zidane/Ruby in Commitment). The following flashback also crosses the storylines of the chapters Substitute and Commitment.

Special Thanks to MeinGrößterFan! (sounds a little funny, wouldn't you agree MGF? ;) )

PS: I recently posted a little oneshot about Zidane's first theft, just in case you have'n noticed yet. It was intended as flashback for As an Ending but sadly didn't fit into the story-line.

* * *

PPS: As an Ending just crossed the 100.000 word mark!

* * *

Disclaimer

One word: Fan-fiction

* * *

**Chapter 32 – Scars**

"When I stand before thee at the day's end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing."

Rabindranath Tagore

* * *

Everything had a color.

On her way to the wound, Garnet passed the vivid blue of Zidane's heart muscle, that embraced the gray oxygen-less blood to release it again with a brilliant yellow color. His body-warmth was like a soft green layer, growing darker as she neared his skin.

She guided her powers to the healing injury in his chest. Even while she watched, she could see the dead, black tissue melt away and be replaced by fresh pink cells.

The speed of genome-recovery was fascinating.

She infused a small amount of white magic to the wound. It would have been enough to close the superficial layers in a regular human, but she knew she'd need more than that to -

A sudden burst of power hit her and she found herself lying on the hard floor.

"Zidane, I cannot heal you if you are fighting my magic!" she protested angrily, still shocked by the sudden force.

He blinked slowly and turned to her in surprise, like he had forgotten she was there.

"Sorry Dag..." he closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He tried to conjure up images that'd calm him down. Anger always made it impossible for him to fight his natural ability enough to let Garnet work on his injuries.

"Finished."the mage reached over to the small table next to the bed and grabbed the wet cloth to remove the excess blood on his chest.

Normally, she would yell at him for being reckless and stupid! Running around with a fresh step wound, just inane. Of course she couldn't d that this time, for he had had a valid reason to do so...

She sighed through her nose. With all these crazy things happening within just a few days, it was hard to remind herself this was her wedding day.

A soft wind chime sounded.

„Yes, he is." Zidane confirmed the question.

The queen was confused at first, then annoyance seethed in her stomach as she realized she'd been left out of the conversation – again.

„Who is?" she asked sharply, unwilling to accept being ignored.

Her husband looked at her apologeticly, cleaning his throat. He rubbed his temples, trying to focus.

Why did he have to tell her? It would be so much easier to simply show her what was on his mind.

„That de Laíren bast-... guy had once been a member of Tantalus.", the doubt in her eyes was just what he'd expected.

So much easier, he thought.

„A 'brother'?" she asked, wanting to believe him, but finding it hard to do so.

„No, that was before we all grew that close. Back then we were just a random bunch working under the same man. Back then, before Ruby joined us." he added the last part thoughtfully, almost reluctantly. But he knew she had to know in order to understand.

Garnet thought for a moment what she knew about Ruby and Tantalus in general. It wasn't all that much now that she thought of it.

„About ten years ago, Boss took a few of us to a trip to a small harbor town called Adelay..."

* * *

The day was finally there, today they would be able to leave the stinking fishing smack and sleep in a real bed again.

„Shore, shore, shore!" the high voice exclaimed in a mixture of shouting and singing.

„Zidane, stop that, you're annoying the shit outa me! It will take hours, before we can get off."

The ten year old pouted. It wasn't his fault he couldn't stand being on the ocean, last time it nearly ate him! Running around was the only thing that made him feel better.

Blank was one to talk, he loved that damn thing.

„What if I dropped you over the railing to see if you can't swim after all?"

His tail bristled up like a pin cushion as Nathan stepped out of the shadows, sneering. Quickly the blonde stepped closer to his red headed friend, who straightened up instantly.

„What if I shoved this fishing rod right up your a-"

„Stop it you two!", Marcus interrupted sternly as he put himself between the two boys,"Nath, get back in your corner, ya'll get sunburn and that's not part of the play. And Blank..."

„Yeah, I might end up looking like Frankenstein over there." the dark haired whispered loudly to Cinna.

„That's it, you're dead meat!" the red head shouted, about to launched himself on the narcissistic teen.

„I said STOP IT!" the oldest shouted – really shouted! - grabbing the boy in mid air before he had reached his target even halfway,"Stay put." he ordered, as he placed the twelve year old on the ground, accepting no argument. Then he walked over to Nath.

„From you I don't want to hear another word, all day, got that?!"

The teen raised his head arrogantly.

A slap echoed over the deck.

„I asked if you got that?" the older repeated in a low voice, as the other held his stinging cheek and nodded with disgust, before leaving the scene.

„Why do you always do that?"

Marcus sighed before he turned to the two youngest members of the group,"Do what?"

„Protect that dipstick. I would have ripped his throat out if you'd have let me!" the boy's face was almost as red as his hair.

„I didn't protect him, I protected _you_.", he went eye level with the child, seeing him about to protest he continued,"I know, you think ya're all grown up und stuff, but fact is: Boss is in a fucking bad mood already and you know how well Nath can talk his way right out of things."

The blonde nodded.

„Why can't Boss see that?"

„Well, we all gotta admit that that guy is a really good actor – if nothing else", he cleaned his throat,"Not just on stage. Therefore, you two better stick together and away from the others, k?"

* * *

„Bed!" with a 'wush' the boy vanished into the many pillows until only his high held tail stuck out.

„You're a real help, you know that?" Blank muttered as he dropped the heavy luggage, that contained not only all their stuff, but all their costumes too.

„You're harsh.", the blonds complained as he freed himself of the mass on the bed,"Not at all like a 'lovelorn princess'"

„Haha, funny! Just you wait, you'll be Cornelia sooner than you think." he countered, still miffed at Boss' decision on his new part.

„As long as I don't have to kiss Nath..."

„Too bad, there isn't much you can do, it's either him, Marcus or me." he chuckled as the kid's cheeky expression turned to one of disgust.

* * *

„There are two tables for your group." a thin man in his forties said to Baku, guiding him to the front, close to the bar,"My daughter will bring you wine and water."

„You four," the big man pointed at the children,"Sit and stay put!" he ordered, his mood still as bad as Marcus had warned them. Then he and Marcus moved to the other table to meet some 'old friends'.

After an endless time of strained silence, the a young girl of about fourteen years arrived with a tablet full of cups and carafes. She served the adults first, before moving over to the smaller table.

„Please pardon the delay." she greeted them, already placing the left over items from her tablet on the table,"It is a little hectic right now."

Her cheeks were flushed and a couple wisps of light blue hair escaped her bun, as she hurried to fill their cups with water.

Zidane watched as Nathan re-adjusted his cup, but before he figured out why, the accident took already place. By hitting said cup at the wrong angle, it tipped over and the water run over the table towards the black haired boy.

„Oh, no, please, I'm so so sorry!" she quickly dabbed the water off with her apron.

Nathan just laughed, but not in his usual arrogant way. Instead it sounded amused and calming.

„Don't worry so much, it is only water." he took her hand in his hands and gave it a reassuring squeeze,"What's your name, 'Belle'?"

„No... no, it's Heleena." she giggled as her blush deepened.

„Suits you just as well, my shining light."

Blank rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink. It was about all he could do to not make gagging noises.

* * *

„Hurry up, it's freezing out here!"

Zidane ignored his friend, who continued muttering why he had to accompany him every time his bladder piped up.

Just as he was about to leave the outhouse, he heard voices from the other side of the room. True to his curious nature, he walked closer.

They were further away then he thought, but his keen ears could still pick up the conversation.

„... if anyone sees -" it was a tense female's voice.

„Who is here to watch? It's the dead of the night."

The blond boy had to bite his own hand to keep himself from making noise. The second voice was Nath's! What was he doing talking to some girl outside at this hour?

„Get out, or I'll get in!"

That was Blank.

As fast as he dared, the child walked back to the door.

„Hey, over there is -" he began, still unsure what to think about what he just heard.

„Hush, whatever you found or saw in there, I don't wanna know." was the prompt rebuff from the older one.

He was known to be a grouch in the morning and obviously past midnight already counted as morning. So the youngster did as he was told.

* * *

As they stood in front f the inn a couple of days later to load their bags on the cart that would drop them off at the harbor, Blank noticed a shadow that didn't quite match the houses facade.

„Heleena, right?" he stood right in front of the pale girl, making her jump.

In truth it was pure coincidence that he remembered her name. She was just some girl in some town they'd never visit again.

„Y...yes. You're with Nath, right?", she blushed and he knew what was coming next,"Could you give him this letter, please?"

He starred annoyed into her eyes with his single one. She broke the eye contact almost instantly, yet found herself unable to do anything but stare at his ragged looking face.

„You done?" he asked impatiently as she continued to stare.

„I apologize, that was rude." she truly looked ashamed of herself, so he sighed and held out his hand for the letter.

„Thank you!"

„Yada yada. Better don't count on an answer!" with that he walked straight up to his least favorite person in the world and slammed the of perfume smelling parchment on his chest.

„You dick!" he said under his breath,seeing the boss was distracted at the moment.

„Good boy." the teen answered, reaching out to pet the shorter boy's head.

* * *

As Destiny had it, they arrived at the same little harbor town again, only a couple of months after their departure. The same little inn as before.

The taproom was packed as usual and Blank could see several of the owner's daughters run around serving guests. Actually all of them, except for one.

„Hey Nath", he kicked his leg underneath the table,"What was that girl's name again?"

As he only received a disdainful look, he tried again.

„The inn keeper's daughter, with the blue hair...", still no reaction,"Wasn't it Heleena or something?"

„Who? I know you cannot grasp such a thing in your patchwork brain, but I can't remember all the names of girls who ever had a crush on me."

A typical provocative answer, but the red head decided to let it slip just this once. He was sure he'd seen a hint of recognition in the other's eyes as he said the girl's name. So he tried a different approach.

„Where is your sister Heleena?" he asked their server the next time she came close.

The girl looked unsure for a moment. She cast a quick glance towards the bar, before she asked „Who?" and left as fast as she could with their empty plates.

* * *

It truly was a bustling town. A far cry from Lindblum, but still.

Since his roommate had kicked him out for knowing the lines better that he did, Zidane had decided to take a stroll. He reached the market square and looked around. At the side he saw a hooded person at the bakery stand who acted a little odd.

He snuck up on her and saw how a small hand reached out of the cloak and tried to grab a steaming loaf. The bread fell to the ground and suddenly the owner turned in their direction, his eyes narrowed.

„Ouch, that's hot!" the boy cried out, drawing all attention on himself.

She looked at him in shock, but recovered quickly and went right along.

„I told you so. I'm sorry, sir." she apologized, taking the boys hand.

„You'll still have to pay for it!"

Zidane felt her hand tighten around his and knew she wouldn't be able to pay for anything.

„Here, is that enough?" he asked, showing two copper pieces he'd snatched from a merchant earlier.

„Hmpf, yeah yeah." the man grumbled, keeping an eye on them as they left.

As soon as they were out of sight, the boy pulled her into a small alley and let go of her hand.

„You are a terrible thief!" he chided, staring up at her hidden face.

„I know..." she piped sheepishly, pulling back her hood.

„I knew it, you are that inn keeper's daughter!" he'd notices a loose hair on her sleeve earlier that had a blue-ish hue to it.

„Wait! If you are here, does that mean he's here, too?" she looked so hopeful and shook him so hard by his shoulders, that the boy could do little more than nod.

„Please tell him to meet me here. Tonight! Oh, please." she pleaded, going down to meet him at eye level.

„Ok, ok. I'll do it."

„Thank you!" she hugged him closely.

* * *

„Hey Nath!" the red head banged against the wooden wall, well knowing him to have the bed at the other side,"You'd better learn your steps!"

He snickered, imagining the high and mighty teen falling off stage during the sword scene. How glad he was that Zidane was the new Cornelia!

Speaking off...

„What are you doing starring at the wall the whole time?"

„Thinking." was the simple reply.

Blank got up from the bed, eyeing his friend critically, „Not singing, not jumping, just thinking?"

„Yep."

Unsatisfied, feeling ignored (not to mention bored) he quickly grabbed the tossing tail and gave it a slight tug.

„Hey, not fair!" the youngster shrieked, cradling the precious appendix protectively in his hands.

„Your fault for ignoring me. What are you thinking of?"

The younger boy felt conflicted, but his knotting stomach told him he should talk about Heleena with someone. So he did and also about the night he had overheard Nath's conversation with her.

The one eyed listened carefully, wishing the feeling in his gut would go away.

„... and when she hugged me, I could feel she had another bread under her cloak, I thought why steal if she still had plenty..."

„Where did she hide that loaf?"

„Well, here..." the boy showed him the approximate position, surprised that was the thing he cared for the most. They had just had dinner.

„I'll go out, you stay here." the older boy commanded, suddenly eager to reach the window.

„But..."

„You. Stay. Right. Here. No buts.", with that he vanished out of the window.

So Zidane stayed right where he was.

For about thirty seconds.


	34. New Beginnings

**Author's note:**

Well, where to start...?

Hi to everyone! I know I've been terribly unreliable in regards of updates "recently" and I can't promise to get the situation back to the old days (one update per week) but I'll try to get into a new rhythm of maybe an update every three to four weeks... if people are still interested in ready this fic.

Please read and review to let me know!

PS: This is the second part of the story Zidane tells to Garnet and Mikoto. You might want to re-read the beginning in the previous chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 33 – New Beginnings**

_All changes have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another._  
_Anatole France_

* * *

As Blank re-entered the castle, it had changed into a beehive.

The guests – miffed and unsettled by the royals' continuous absence – had started to stray through the castle in search for an explanation – or at least some gossip. Meanwhile the guards' numbers had at least tripled, trying to keep the visitors in check and out of private parts of the grand estate.

They all mostly ignored the dripping man as he passed. His feed lead him to the very end of the guest wing, away from the human ants. He was about to knock on the barely open door, when he heard Zidane's somber voice.

"... a small harbor town called Adelay..."

Feeling even more depressed by the memory his friend was about to retell, he leaned tiredly against the wall next to the door and let himself slide to the ground.

* * *

„I'll go out, you stay here." the red haired boy commanded, suddenly eager to reach the window.

„But..."

„You. Stay. Right. Here. No buts." with that he vanished out of the window.

So Zidane stayed right where he was.

For about thirty seconds.

As soon as the older's footsteps where out of hearing range, the young boy dexterously made his way out of the window. On his way to the side of the house, where a stack of firewood would ease his escape, Zidane had to get past two windows: Boss' and Nath's.

Luckily, Boss was still at the bar, while Marcus had fallen asleep over some papers. As he passed the other boys' room, he could hear Cinna mumbling and searching for something. When the plump boy crawled under his bed, the blonde took a better look through the open panels. Nath was nowhere to be seen, nor was his coat.

Strengthened in his belief to do the right thing, he climbed down and ran down the street towards the market square where he had left Heleena hours ago.

* * *

Unnoticed by the storyteller, a second person stopped in front of the room, listening intently. Blank didn't need to look up to know whom the blood-red silk-dress belonged to.

"He is back?" Ruby asked.

There was no accent in her voice.

She knew the answer, therefore he simply padded the space next to him. She followed the invitation, only to jump right back into a standing position.

"What did you do?! You're all wet!" she hissed, glaring at him and the puddle he had created around himself.

"Felt like taking a swim."

"Fool..."

He heard the the rustling of fabric and a cascade of silk and linen was draped around him like a blanket.

"Being with a healer doesn't make you invincible, we clear on that?" she chided, as she sat next to him wearing little more than the top of her dress, shoes, stockings and long body linen.

Blank paused, taking his time to study the different layers of fabric. They were all sown together at the part which had been hidden under the actress' corset to make it look like a complete dress.

He'd let her tease him to her hearts content, as long as it helped her calm down. That alone was worth the humiliation.

The woman grinned like a jackal when her words resulted in a small – but definitely existing – blush.

* * *

It wasn't enough that the night was dark and cold, no it had to be raining too!

Now that he had stopped running, Blank noticed the cold for the first time, as he stepped quietly towards the town square. It dawned on him, that he didn't know, where exactly Nath was supposed to meet that girl. Maybe he had acted too soon; it was neither his business, nor was he anyone's babysitter. Then why did he still have this tightness in his stomach?

A kingfisher's whistle echoed trough the harbor town.

_A kingsfisher?_

The boy looked around and spotted the small frame of another child several yards to the left.

„What the -" he whispered tensely as he reached his friend, who hastily pointed towards a small ally that shone with a weak light.

He instantly shut up and listened. There were two people.

„Please, belief me", a girl's voice pleaded,"It is the truth."

„What do I care about your 'truth'?"

„Please, listen..."

"I know where you live now, I know _what _you are. No one will ever belief you!" he spat.

Zidane could hear his best friend's teeth grind with anger, as he clinched his own fists.

„When father found out... he sent me to that house..." her voice shook with the memory,"But now... now you are here. We can be together and tell him -" her enthusiasm and desperate hope was undeniable.

A bellow of rage, followed by a loud slap echoed through the alley.

Then everything happen at once.

Blank dashed out of their hiding-place and flung himself unto Nath, who was too taken aback to defend himself against two more blows before he realized what was happening. When he did, he got mad. Really mad.

Heleena sat on the floor with one hand on her cheek, watching in shock and disbelief as the two rolled on the floor, each trying to gain the upper hand. Zidane clutched the older girl by the arm and struggled to get her up and moving. When she finally realized the blonde wanted her to run, the fight had already gone bloody.

„Shouldn't we help?" she asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the alley, which became smaller and smaller as they kept running.

Zidane shook his head, determent not to look back. He was no help when it came to fighting, but he was fast...

„You are too slow!" he shouted in frustration, as they stopped. Heleena fought for air.

„Stay here, I'll get help." when he saw her guilt stricken face, he laid a small hand on her shoulder,"Everything will work out."

With that he took off towards the inn. The girl watched after him, then faced the way they'd run from.

* * *

„Marcus! Marcus!" Zidane began shouting, before he had made the stairs even halfway.

Several doors opened and sleepy guests stared at him, some with curiosity, others with blood-lust for being disturbed in the middle of the night.

Marcus' door opened last. He was still half asleep and about to put the boy over his knee, but sobered immediately as he saw the wide open eyes of the child. He grabbed his cloak before Zidane could say another word.

„Nath... Blank... found Heleena... fight..." wheezed the blonde, as he tried to keep up with Marcus.

The man took pity on him and picked the child up. He was even faster with the boy on his back than next to him.

* * *

Fear wasn't an emotion Heleena had experienced often in her life, at least not while she had been sheltered and pampered by her family. After her father disowned and banished her, fear had become very prominent in her life. Nath's unexpected return - she'd been sure – had been a heavenly sign that all of this would be over soon and her life was to return to normal. But the rage in his eyes – violence, where there had been violets before – had scared her into immobilization.

The only thing scaring her even more was the boy with the bandana – she didn't even know his name – was with Nath right now, fighting for her. She truly admired his bravery, but there was no way he could possibly win against the teen.

This time her fear let her run faster.

True to her intuition, she reached the alley just in time to bear witness to the teen's victory. He sat on top of Bandana-Boy, breathing hard while whipping off some blood from his lip. He took the time to study it, before he glared once more at his opponent.

"You ruined my face!" he growled, placing his hands revengefully around the boy's neck.

Heleena watched the weak struggle of the red-head with a sinking heart. She hadn't thought about what to do, once she had reached the pair. Unconsciously her hand closed around something hard.

A rock.

It flew and hit it's mark... almost. The black haired grunted as he was hit at the shoulder, focusing his cold eyes on her. But he still didn't let go of his victim.

If she had been in her right mind, Heleena would have been aghast by her behavior, but right now she acted solely on her instinct. With the force of all her fears and anger, she threw another stone at the person who had ruined her life. This time she hit the side of his head, feeling avenged and free as Nath dropped to the side unconsciously.

She rushed to her defender's side, praying to every god she knew for him to be alive. Relief rushed through her – making her feel light headed even – when Bandana-Boy rolled on his side, hands clutching his own throat as he draw in as much air as possible.

But he hadn't been the only one to regain consciousness, a fact the girl was blissfully ignorant of, until she found herself ruffly dragged upright by her shoulder.

The initial scream was stuck in her throat as she – once more – stared at her former lovers eyes. He wasn't angry anymore. He was well beyond angry.

He struck out and she could see the stone she had hit him with in his raised fist. She raised her arms to protect her face, realizing merely a second later, that he'd never aimed at her head.

The excruciating pain fanned out over her expanded abdomen, leaving her too breathless to scream. He struck again, pushing her to the very rim of consciousness. She toppled over, somehow freed of Nath's hold. The world turned black and numb before she reached the ground and it's uncharacteristic softness.

* * *

Ruby covered her ears, desperate to drown out Zidane's words.

Feeling her over-straining, Blank moved and pulled her into a close embrace. Holding her was all he could do back then. And now.

He rocked her gently, listening to the silence that had overtaken the room behind the door after Zidane had finished his tale. Her encounter with Nath had cost her much, too much for words to describe.

Ruby felt another body against her back and relaxed even more. There she was, sandwiched between her two best friends; hearing her brothers' heartbeats; in her little cocoon of security.

Garnet watched the threesome from the door thoughtfully.

"You know", Blank whispered with a smile,"there is still the epilogue to be told."

* * *

It had been three weeks since the close call in the alley in Adelay. Three weeks since Nath had escaped. And two weeks since she'd been brought to this room.

It was a small wood cabin with a porthole. The interior was plain and mismatched with maps covering most of the walls. Her only source of entertainment was the worn book Bandana-Boy – 'Blank', she reminded herself – had given her. More like smuggled in, since the group's leader had demanded her '_to eat, sleep and heal_'.

A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts and said boy walked up to her bed, carrying a tray of food. She smiled as Zidane – his apparent shadow – razed into the room, hastily closing the door. He smiled at her with overdone innocence. Blank frowned and sighed.

"Is it ok if I stay with the kid while you eat? Boss is in a foul mood and isn't likely to be tolerant of clumsiness."

She nodded and smiled. She felt more hungry for company than food.

Heleena had grown attached to the little boy, who always made her laugh and was easy to talk to. The older one was more withdrawn. He got obviously uncomfortably whenever she looked at him. Maybe because of all the trouble he'd undergone because of her, or maybe he got too many stares due to his mismatched skin. She had to admit that it was hard not to take a closer look now and then.

She occupied herself with the food, before speaking.

"Your... boss ask me if I wanted to join the troupe..." she said quietly.

When she didn't get a reply, she looked up to see the red-head eying her thoughtfully. She expected him to tell her what she should do, like everyone else had done before.

Instead, he surprised her with a counter question.

"Who are you?"

She blinked in confusion, thrown completely off track. What did he mean? He knew her who she was. What did he mean...?

The answer lay on the tip of her tongue, when she remembered something the women at the harbor had told her about a name's power.

She stopped herself to think.

Her parents had named her Heleena, but was she still that person?

Heleena was the favorite daughter of the innkeeper; she was a dreamer, naïve and innocent. And Heleena was madly in love with a charming stranger, who'd promised her the stars in the sky.

No, she wasn't that girl anymore!

This realization left her with another tricky question: Who was she? Or rather: Who did she want to be?

The boy in front of her watched her satisfied, waiting patiently for an answer.

A sparkle distracted her for a moment and her eyes focused on a small stud pierced through his left earlobe, which appeared to be on fire in the candle's flickering light.

She remembered her mother telling her of a gemstone that looked like that. What was it called again?

A ruby.

Feeling a tad silly - but determined at the same time - she answered in a clear voice.

"Call me Ruby."

Zidane giggled. Blank grinned at her and touched his ear self-consciously, realizing where her inspiration had come from.

"Nice to meet you, Ruby!"

* * *

The small group chuckled in remembrance.

"Honey," Ruby cut in suddenly raising her head to look at Blank,"ya smell worse d'an ah sewer rat!"

He looked down at her, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

* * *

The castle slowly returned to it's daily routine.

_About time_, Mikoto thought. There had been rarely a time she'd had to herself since the whole mess started.

She was about to leave the breakfast table, rolling her eyes in annoyance as her bodyguard prepared to accompany her. At least she could talk Zidane into reducing the guards surrounding her to just one. After all, the attack hadn't been aimed at her personally. But he didn't want to hear any of it, determent to have her every step supervised.

With Nathan gone, Lord de Laíren had denied any involvement. With no evidence to contradict his claims, Zidane had been unable to do anything more than place him under house arrest in his country estate.

She made her way down to the grand hall. She hadn't crossed the room halfway, when a young boy entered through the gate, making a strait line to her. Side stepping her obnoxious guard, she took a closer look. Kneeling respectfully in front of her was Thomas, the orphan serving in Steiner's retreat outside the city walls.

"Please... help..." he huffed breathless from running,"Lady Beatrix... Help!"

Mikoto turned to the guard, giving order to get her Master, three chocobos and a long list of additional items they'd need.

The man watched her dumbfounded, unsure if he would rather get in trouble with his charge or her brother. Since he's get chewed out by his superior no mater who complained about him, he decided to simply comply with the blond girl, gaining a few more moments of peace.

Only minutes after his arrival, Thomas found himself lifted on a chocobo. Before he could protest, the beast started to run, giving him no choice but cling to it's neck for dear life itself.

* * *

"They are coming!" the maid exclaimed excitedly to her master, who hadn't stopped pacing since the boy had left.

"Thank the Goddess! Beatrix, the healer is coming!" Adelbert Steiner gently turned to the woman, stroking her sweat drenched hair off her forehead. She nodded with a pained expression.

As soon as Melissa entered the house, the atmosphere calmed. She instantly focused on the female in the rocking chair, gently guiding her to the bedchamber.

The head of the house watched helplessly as the Royal Healer and her apprentice took charge of his servants to prepare for the upcoming event.

All he could do was pace.

* * *

Sitting in his armchair never felt this forced before. It was autumn, not being in Treno was social suicide. Well, not that he needed to be concerned about that after this idiot had managed to ruin everything by being caught!

Lord de Lairén tossed his pipe angrily into the chimney fire, finding no real satisfaction in it's hungry flames.

The room's silence was unexpectedly disturbed as he heard an all to familiar voice.

"Hello _Father_."

The man turned to the darkness in alarm, anger taking over.

"How dare you set a single foot into my house, you...!"

"Shut up, old man. I'm only here, because an interesting rumor reached my sensitive ears. You are planing a divorce... poor mother." Nathan's voice sounded coarse, like he was just recovering from a cold.

"'Mother", Lord de Lairén spat,"I want to see the son who beds his mother. I only agreed to that marriage because you promised me a foot into the royal line."

"Whatever. I fulfilled my side of the bargain. You were the one who sent the proposal too late. But that is not, why I am here. You see, since you made me your son, but not your legal heir, I don't get to see a single gil after your demise. Once you are divorced, that is..."

Feeling the chill of fear run down his back, the noble tightened the grip on his cane.

"You can't just... you won't dare to..." his threat sounded empty, even to his own ears.

A shadow merged from the darkness, towering over him. His appearance was a mess and his smell an offense to the Lord's nose, who forgot all about his self-defense as soon as he was fixed by the youngster's piercing eyes.

"Watch and learn. Well maybe just watch." Nathan chuckled, before making his move on the quivering patriarch.

* * *

"You are leaving already?" Lady Monique de Lairén asked sadly, stepping closer to him until only the body on the floor kept them apart.

Nathan turned to her, whipping his dagger clean on her late husband's cloak.

"Sadly I do. Do me a favor and call the guards when I'm gone. Tell them... tell them something, anything. You'll think of the right thing." he cupping her cheek as he leaned closer,"I will let you know, when I need you again." he whispered, leaving her with a kiss that made her crave for more.

* * *

Nathan starred at Alexandria's lights growing dim in the distance, undisturbed by the wind blowing black strands of hair into his face.

The Tribals had ruined his life. He was about to return the favor.


	35. Friends

Author's note:

Vide infra

* * *

**Chapter 34 – Friends**

_"Silences make the real conversations between friends._  
_Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts."_  
Margaret Lee Runbeck

* * *

_What defines the start of a new life?_

_Was it the first heartbeat? The first intake of breath? The first cry?_

_And... was a soul a necessary part of living?_

A pain stricken scream pulled the young genome girl out of her thoughts.

A gaian birth had nothing of the calm, coordinated – and clean! – aspects she had supervised hundreds of times in the labs.

Here it was… plain brutal.

She watched Melissa hand a biting stick to the suffering woman. After everything she had seen and heard of Beatrix, she would've never imagined her in a situation that made the battle worn veteran cry out in pain like this.

"I can see the head!" the healer announced, waving her apprentice closer,"Almost done!" she encouraged further.

Almost done turned out to be the second to last stop before the mountain's peak. Another push, another outcry… silence.

Mikoto realized holding her own breath and noticed the pacing in the main room had stopped.

She watched her master frown at the child, held upside down by his ankles.

A well placed slap between the shoulder blades.

"…"

A cough.

A cry.

Relief washed over the household. Melissa handed the newborn trustfully to the blonde to wash, while attending to the new mother.

Slowly lowering the pale, bloody being into the water, the Terran wondered how this planet's population was able to survive at all. Their off springs so very helpless – drowning without her supporting hands – and the risks for the females…

She wrapped the now dry child in soft linen, standing awkwardly behind the healer. The older woman smiled at her tiredly and mentioned for her to go on. She knelt in front of the bed, carefully placing the bundle into Beatrix's awaiting arms. The woman's mimic changed from pain and exhaustion to pure admiration and love.

For the first time, the girl saw herself faced with emotions, that went beyond her comprehension.

Melissa watched the scene, smiling in understanding at her pupil's reaction. While she had never experienced the joy of motherhood herself, she remembered her first attendance at a birthing. She'd never come to a true understanding of a mother's binding to her child, yet viewed every birth as a chance to get a small glimpse at a life path she hadn't chosen for herself.

She would've loved to remain, but her duty now lay on the other side of the door.

"Colonel" she began, eying the sweat drenched man in front of her with a measuring glance. Not few men passed out, unable to endure the pressure.

"Congratulation, you have a son."

"What… how is… who…?" Adelbert Steiner – never having been the most outspoken person – found himself unable to complete one question before the next demanded to be uttered.

The practiced healer smiled at him patiently.

"Your wife is – regarding the circumstances – fine. The birth was less complicated than we had expected." she saw a mountain of fear and guild fall off his shoulders,"Your son is healthy and strong. And yes…" another smile, bemused of the predictability of new fathers,"you may seen them. But only shortly, they need rest."

* * *

_"How was it?"_ Zidane's voice echoed through her mind before her chocobo had even passed the palace gate.

Mikoto shuddered in remembrance. She satisfied his curiosity with a mental image of the – cleaned and wrapped up – result of her day's work.

_"Luca, eh?"_ he commented, projecting a good amount of mischief to her. He planed to teach the boy, imagining himself teaching Steiner Junior lock picking and all the "sweet stuff", that would drive 'old rusty' mad.

She simply shook her head, leaving him to his fantasies.

* * *

"No way!" Zidane cut her off, jumping to his feet.

Mikoto sighed loudly, her tail tapping agitated against her calf. The denial and vehement disbelief she sensed from him through their bond wearing thin on her patience. Of course he was upset, how could he not? But this wasn't the right time to bury one's head in the sand.

He began to pace, his tail dashing erratically from side to side.

"As I stated before," she continued, regaining the conference room's attention, "We have gathered enough information to be certain. During the last Blood Moon – the time when the red moon is closest to Gaia – an outer influence has affected the castle. Inside the walls, all inhabitants experienced a state of foreign domination. All except for us," she mentioned to Zidane and herself," and those with magical abilities."

"Pardon me, but how does this theses regard Master Chestnut's awareness?" Steiner frowned, dissatisfied.

He had gained great respect for the young man, who had protected the queen and her now-husband with his life. Especially since it had been one on one with an armored and well trained warrior as himself. But he was sure he had never seen the red-head comment any form of magic before.

"Good point Rusty," Zidane interrupted again, eager to contradict her,"Blank's less gifted with magic than a potato bag!"

Garnet groaned inwardly. She was relieved that the small council consisted solely of people who had had a chance to know him for his more admirable qualities.

"But… there was still magic in his system" the young queen realized, earning a confirming nod from her sister-in-law.

"Yes, there was. Non-traditional potions – brewed from magic infused herbs – are able to channel the same kind of energy into the user's bloodstream as a born mage possesses. It is solely a matter of potency and quantity." the blonde concluded and sat down again.

Garnet watched her council. Since the matter was more than parlous, she had only included those she trusted to a hundred and ten percent. Having decided on the next step, she focused her attention on Steiner.

"Colonel, I want a thorough inspection of all the staff and military members within the city. All with magic talent will undergo special training. I expect a full report by the end of the month."

"Yes, your Highness!"

"Mikoto, we need as many potions as possible." she knew the genome understood.

"Quiena, I need you to be my eyes and ears. If you notice something – anything –, please let me know."

"I be eyes and ears in kitchen and all of castle. But I no can abandon cooking!" the Qu declared.

"I never expected anything less." the ruler smiled, glad that there were still a few consistencies in her life.

"End of meeting."

Garnet waited until the room had cleared, before she tentatively made her way to the window where her husband sat, knees drawn under his chin. His tail was tightly curled around his ankle, showing his tenseness.

"Since it was a terran attack," she began hesitantly as she touched the sensitive topic."shouldn't _the others_ be… warned?"

"No need." he answered immediately, his voice unusually detached,"They are neither interested nor interesting for the one's up there."

Feeling her dissatisfaction, he added.

"They are looked after. One of them is a Guardian," from his emphasis, Garnet deemed it to be an actual title," he isn't… you know… but knows what to do. Plus Mikoto will know if anything severe happens."

His answer left her with even more questions, but she didn't thought it wise to ask him when he was this reluctant to answer.

* * *

Lindblum hadn't changed since she'd visited the massive city the last time. It was still loud, packed with people and never sleeping.

The passenger boat berthed shakily. As soon as the gangways had been set in place, the people fled the vessel, eager to regain steady ground under their feet. They went through the Dragon's Gate and halted when they reached the air cap station in the castles base level. The cap – having been expanded so it now looked more like a small train - awaited the new visitors. Loud bells signaled them to hurry, for the cap was about to departure.

Mikoto watched her master, who eyed the passing city with excitement. She knew Melissa was a lindblumese with all her soul and hadn't been to her hometown in a long long time.

"It has grown so much!" the old woman whispered proudly.

The two gray cloaked women took a short detour to see a little more of the city before the sun's light left them completely. They reentered the castle on the first level, were a convoy of five armored men awaited them.

The sheer size of the castle awed the young apprentice. Sure, she had read about it, seen the outside herself, but actually being inside...

"We lindblumese don't take half-measures!" an impish voice announced.

Mikoto reluctantly drew her eyes away from the marvelous architecture and focused on the silhouette in front of their little group. The guards bowed in respect.

"Hello, Eiko." she greeted, gaining indignant looks from their company for her lack of formality.

"Hi, Mikoto," the girl replied just as informal,"Where are Zidane and Dagger? They are here too, right?"

Melissa observed the horned girl in her machine oil stained overall inconspicuously. The girl looked around thoroughly as if she expected her friends to hide underneath the women's cloaks. She had grown since the queen's wedding, but her changed attitude – maybe caused by the change of closing? - surprised the healer the most. She smiled. A fresh gush of wind was what Gaia's leading households needed the most.

"What's this?" the preteen poked the small cage in the genome's hold, unsettling the feathered creature inside.

"A dove." was the true, yet non-helpful answer.

"I can see that!" the child stuck out her tongue in a very un-lady-like manner.

Melissa frowned, sure the regent's wife – Lady Hilda – would never tolerate such behavior of her alumna. The frown soon changed into a heartfelt chuckle, when the usually calm teen retaliated the raspberry blown at her with showing the smallest portion of her own tongue, her expression remaining detached all the way.

The soft lough focused the flabbergasted child's attention to the oldest member of their group.

"Uhm... R-Royal Healer Melissa..." she stuttered, hastily showing her respect to the guest her parents expected. When she looked up, her face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Mother awaits you in the conference room," Eiko cheeped, "Father, well..." she rubbed her cheek, enlarging a black smudge unwittingly, "He looks worse than me."

With that, Lindblum's heiress turned and hastily guided her guests to the conference room.

* * *

The greeting was the usual exchange of pleasantries, titles, and empty phrases. Regent Cid IX entered – the slightly dishevel cloths betrayed the haste he had donned them - and dismissed the guards.

"Melissa!" Hilda embraced her long time friend warmly, who returned the gesture just as heartfelt.

Their friendship dated back to the time, when young Hilda felt lonely and out of place in the giant castle and under her mother-in-law's stern supervision. She had spent many hours on the roof, finding peace in the land's vastness. It was there, where she met the newly acknowledged midwife with her fondness for herbs. She had been with her through her first three births and the death of her two sons. Until the Regent's mother blamed her for the infants' demise and banned her from Lindblum.

The older woman watched her friend now, noticing the sparkle in her eyes, that had grown dim during the years of loss and hardship. Melissa remembered the words she had once received from the grieving mother by letter.

".._.Cid is convinced, the heir of Lindblum is not be meant to be of our blood. If the goddess intends for us to raise the future, an heir will come to us by other means..."_

With their thoughts in sync, the women smiled at the young heiress, who cocked her head to the side in confusion.

* * *

Regent Cid Fabool IX had listened intently to the healer's report. Without delay the dove had been released, sending note of the woman's save arrival as well as "a friend's" confirmation for his support.

(With much discontent on Eiko's side, because a 'stupid bird' was deemed more trustworthy than a moogle.)

The next couple of weeks were spent finding and dealing with potion-makers shady enough to ask about money but not reason for the amount of potions requested. And since the guild's master had once been Blank's mentor – who was all but forgiving in regards of botching – they could be relatively sure to pay for quality.

* * *

Lindblum by night wasn't much different than during the day's routine. The air caps rushed loudly through the city and the night shifts in the industrial district ensured a never ending train of people walking around.

Grumpily, Mikoto wondered anew how Zidane had ever managed to grow up – much less sleep – in this onslaught of noises. Living with the vessels – be it on Terra or Oeil Vert – had at least ensured her a well deserved rest at night.

A soft knock on the window shattered her thoughts of tranquil places she'd rather be at than Lindblum. Suppressing a groan, Mikoto made her way through the room without creating a single sound, thanks to her good night vision.

Once she had reached the window, she raised an eyebrow. Blank leaned – almost nonchalant – against the outer windowsill, unimpressed by the thirty feed of nothingness underneath.

"Hi" he whispered, a forced smile on his lips.

The blonde cocked her head, silently asking what caused his untimely visit and the weak attempt of a smile.

He dropped his mask and became serious.

"I need your help. Now!" he prepared to explain more, but found himself of the receiving end of a high held palm, which signaled him to hold on.

The young woman vanished from view only to reappear a few minutes later with her gray cloak and healer's basket in hand. She hesitated for a second, contemplating whether to leave a note for Melissa or not, before disregarding the idea. She'd be back by morning, hopefully.

Slightly bewildered – yet highly appreciating her reliable nature – Blank watched her join him on the house front.

* * *

Meanwhile, a small group of the Night Watch assembled in the Alexandrian harbor. The men had – yet again – pulled a bloated body from the docks.

"Accidents happen," the leader shrugged, "So do murders."

Of course he was right, even in the quite safe realm of the capital, those things did happen. But... one was ought to ask oneself, if it was to be considered normal, when the newest victims bore the image of terror in their eyes, even in death.

* * *

**Words from the author:**

I'm sure everyone knows that feeling: you start to read a new story, it's not bad, but just not you're cup of tea. So, you leave without a comment. That's ok.

What isn't ok is, when a story is interesting enough to read through more than 30(!) chapters without leaving feed back for the author. That's not just "not ok", that's downright cheap!

There is a statistic, showing an author how many people viewed each chapter. Example: The last chapter interested 70+ visitors (some people reading from ch 1 to 33), but not gain a single review.

I'm saying this because a) I get easily affected by lack of feedback and b) I know a not so small number of fellow authors who suffer just as much.

I feel better now. Thanks for reading.

And don't forget to review! ;)


	36. Consequences

Hi,

I'm back with a missed update due to a tendonitis (isn't called "typewriter's cramp" for nothing...) Aaanyway, please enjoy and share your thoughts with me via review!

A huge hug and virtual choclate-chip-cookies go to: Mr steve jr, MysticSpiritus, MeingroessterFan, Guest Thank you!

* * *

**Chapter 35 – Consequences**

"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality." - Winston Churchill

* * *

"Please! There is no one else we can turn to!"

"But... I'm not a midwife! I'm not even a healer yet."

"You've done it before!" Brunce accused, desperate to get through to the restive blonde.

Lucilla had come to him after escaping her husband. It drove him crazy that he could do nothing to help her now. The only one who _could _was too conceited _or whatever_ to help!

"Brunce..." Blank placed a hand on the younger's shoulder that was just as much consoling as it was restricting.

The brunette shook him off, too upset to restrain himself to less than pace.

"Mikoto," the redhead took her hands, his eye bore into her's like a stormy wind through a lake,"I know we're asking much of you. No one can know she is here. And now that she needs help... I couldn't think of anyone trustworthy enough... but you. I know you can do it."

A chill run through her body. Yes, she was afraid and he knew.

But, she realized, he was just as scared to handle the situation without her.

When had they started reading each other like that?

She nodded.

* * *

Drafty. Cold and drafty.

Those were the first impressions Mikoto had as she entered the small attic room. The furniture was very spar: a small bed, a stool, a barricaded window and a makeshift opening to the chimney. She prayed the later would proof itself big enough to boil water on.

In the far corner – hidden under several blankets – cowered a girl of maybe fourteen or fifteen years. As she got closer, the blonde got a better look at her patient. She was bad nourished and her large green eyes looked haunted like a deer's.

"Hello Lucille, I am Mikoto." she introduced herself in a tone much calmer than she felt, "I will help you through this."

Green eyes looked surprised, but there was enough reliefe and pain in the shy smile to confirm the Healer-Apprentice of the rightness of her decision.

* * *

"We can't just sit here, we have to _do_ something!"

"Keep calm, there is nothing we can do. That's women's business." Blank replied, as he had done a hundred times before. It almost felt like a mantra by now.

The younger man sat down on the floor, only to jump up and restart his pacing.

* * *

_In Lindblum, there is a tradition, dating back to the time when our grand city was a mere hamlet._

_Every newborn was laid in front of the assumed father, who would either take it – accepting it to be his own flesh and blood – or ignore it, until someone took pity on the rejected child and carried it away._

With her master's word and the promise of Lucille's husband - to "_stifle anything but a son_" - in her mind, Mikoto walked through the door, a bundle of blankets held close to her chest.

The two men turned, eager for news, but she only put a finger to her lips and walked straight up to Brunce.

She looked him sternly into the eyes, before kneeling down, freeing the baby from the warm fabric. The newborn began to cry heartrendingly as it was suddenly exposed to the cold night air and the unyielding hardness of the wood floor.

The men stared at the little girl.

"Take thy blood, leave an other's."

The formal phrase registered only slowly through Brunce's confused mind.

Why was she doing this? She knew that he wasn't - couldn't be! - the father of the tiny infant before him.

Blank, who couldn't have been more grateful for the blonde's quick thinking, understood.

The little one had been born prematurely – nine and a half moons after Lucille's wedding. After an honored lindblumese tradition, the binding of the exchanged vows would be nullified, if the bride – knowledgeable of it or not – already expected another man's child.

"I shall be thy witness." Blank willingly filled the role.

Brunce turned to the older man, having caught on as well.

Accepting the baby would free Lucy from her husband, but bind them both to him.

* * *

The hideout was unusually quiet. The chime had just announced midday, but all beds had been abandoned hours ago. A rare tranquility that was shattered by Baku's thundering voice.

"You want me to do _what_?!"

Brunce flinched, but Blank stayed straight faced. He knew it was best to let Boss steam up first, before trying again. With him, it was all about timing.

"What you are asking for is not only illegal", like he'd have a problem with that,"but the highest crime in front of the gods!" he continued, outraged by the mere thought.

"... and will be just and right the moment you're done."

The man ignored Blank's words of reason and turned his attention on the brunette boy.

"Ya haven't done anything stupid, have ya?!"

Brunce's expression hardened and his tone was forcefully calm, "I claimed the child as my own."

Baku's eyes narrowed, "Blank!", he barked,"don't ya dare tell me you're his bloody witness!"

The red-head nodded.

The boss seemed regretful for one second. When he spoke, his voice was dark and controlled.

"Blank, you pledged obedience to me fifteen years ago. Therefore, I demand your silence!"

The two men stared uncomprehendingly at him. They both knew Baku did nearly everything to not upset the gods, but this was monstrously!

"This still leaves me as a witness."

All eyes focused on Mikoto, who had simply been forgotten as she watched the discussion from the door frame,"You cannot demand my silence." she looked up at the man - now towering over her - with unyielding eyes.

Baku growled inwardly, as he felt his anger crumble. He tried to hide it, but he'd always been unable to deny anything to a woman who stood up for her beliefs. A circumstance Ruby had used in her favor countless times.

"Are there any signs of a premature birth?" he asked, trying to find a valid reason for his ongoing refusal.

"The child's weight and size are within the norm and going backward from the day of birth, the conception occurred before the nuptials."

Blank barely suppressed the urge to snatch the blonde up and kiss her, as she squirmed herself around a straight answer, dancing on the very line between truth and lie.

Silence followed.

Then a monstrous intake of breath and an equal exhale echoed through the room.

They had won.

"Meet me at the docks at midnight. No one may see you. Her husband is already looking for her."

* * *

On the way back to Lucille's hiding place, Mikoto found herself held back by the wrist, leaving Brunce to take the lead.

"I think it's better you don't come with us tonight. It is too dangerous." her companion's breath felt hot against her neck.

"No, we are in this together." she replied without a backwards glance, "Besides, she is still my responsibility."

"What's with you two?" the brunette in the front called out and was soon joined by the pair.

* * *

A human's muffled shout echoed through the mist covered waterways, alarming the silent passengers on their way to the harbor.

"Almost there, almost there..."

Mikoto heard Brunce whisper to Lucille, turning her head towards the unkind presents that made her shiver since they had entered the unlit pathways.

The voice resounded, then it was gone.

_Almost there, almost there..._

She refocused her attention to the front, where Cinna maneuvered the tiny boat through the canal.

He had never really caught the genome's attention and even in Zidane's stories he usually played a neglect-able role. Tonight he had caught them on their way out, asking a million questions. But as soon as he realized who accompanied them, he stopped talking and guided them swiftly to the very vessel they populated now.

"Duck!" Cinna hissed, as the boat hid beneath a plank walkway.

Not a second later, two guards rounded the corner.

Mikoto prayed the babe in her arms wouldn't start crying, it had become her own mantra since they had left the attic. She tried to channel as much calm towards the neonate as possible, hoping to block off the tenseness around them.

With only a few more nerve wracking almost-encounters, the group made it to the docks, and finally to The Woodnympf. They entered the sturdy looking boat and began the last part of their venture.

"You can do it." the blonde encouraged her patient, having taken the place at Lucille's side since the men had taken the sweeps.

The girl smiled tiredly. She was still very weak and despite Brunce carrying her around bridal style, the trip had taken a great toll on her.

* * *

Baku watched the waters with growing unease. He begrudged the law for granting him the authority to wed a couple on the open sea. A sea that – obviously reflecting the gods' dismay – grew more and more fitful as the minutes passed.

At last he spotted the small ship morphing out of the harbor's shadow, making an almost straight line for him. It took the group almost an hour to reach him. He saw in their tired faces, the exhausted bodies and felt less morose.

They bore witness that his betrayal of the gods was truly worth the possible damnation.

* * *

The ceremony had been as quick as possible, only the raw basics. But none the less, the gruff man saw himself surrounded by smiling faces. As he watched the newly weds, he remembered them as little children, playing treasure hunter and master thieves around the clock-tower. They might not be a perfect match, but they cared about each other. He had seen worse matches.

"Another investment lost...!"

Blank heard the boss mumble, but there was no way he could fool him.

"And you" Baku added, not appreciating the redhead's smirk,"Ya better ain't gonna get married, got me?"

The addressed man found humor in the statement, holding up his hands with an even wider smirk.

_As if... _he thought dismissively.

But the massive man had already focused his attention at the blonde who – in an other way – was just as much trouble as her brother. If not worse.

* * *

Before the Prince Consort's sister had become her apprentice, Melissa had endured many incapable pupils.

Pupils incapable to get their hands dirty,

pupils incapable to accept their parents' career-choice for them,

pupils incapable to care for the sick.

The blonde's behavior had been a sharp contrast to her past experiences. Her flawless diligence, obedience and intellect had been only a few of her assets.

Who could have thought her apprentice's loyalty of all things would bring them to this.

Melissa glanced down on the blond shock of hair, as the girl knelt in front of her.

"Will you tell me, why you left without permission?"

"I apologize for my renewed disobedience, but I cannot tell you about the why and where of my absence, Master Melissa."

"You know of the consequences of such a behavior?" the old woman demanded to know with a stern voice and sinking heart.

A sharp intake of breath and a hard swallow betrayed the girl's calm posture, before she nodded.

"Then... hand me your cloak."

* * *

Blank found the blonde sitting on the steps in a backstreet. It would have been difficult to recognize the one underneath the gray cloak's cape drawn deeply into her face, if not for the sand colored tail that lay limply behind her.

He sat next to her, joining in the silence.

No words were needed, as the cut-out symbol of infinity on her cloak spoke for itself.

"Don't be.", she said sensing her companion's growing regret for involving her, "It was my decision."

He opened his mouth, but the words escaped him.

"Maybe he will let me go back now...", her voice was just above a whisper.

"'Go back' … home?" the man was taken aback by her revelation after almost half an hour had passed between them in silence.

A rueful smiled played on her lips, hidden from view by her hood. He thought her homesick, when in facts it was the longing to fulfill her programmed duty to watch the vessels, to return to the surreal quiet of the vacant desert landscape.

Well... maybe it was some twisted kind of homesickness after all... Being with those who needed you, a place to let the mind rest...

Nowadays, many things Terran seemed to be twisted somehow.

"Come!" he urged her, already on his feed, holding his hand out for her to take,"You need some distraction."

The genome wasn't really in the mood, but decided she might just as well walk around instead of sitting on the cold steps.

Little did she know...

* * *

"What are they celebrating?"

"The evening, the first day of the week or life, maybe?" he winked at her, but it was easy to see she didn't appreciate his dismissive attitude.

"Does is truly matter? They're having fun."

"Maybe not" she relented, finding pleasure in watching the people dance first in groups, than in pairs, shifting like colored crystals in a kaleidoscope.

The plaza wasn't very large, and yet several hundred people populated the makeshift dance floor. A band played from a balcony of the surrounding houses.

"That's what I love most about the theater district! Let's go!" he laughed.

"But I don't know how to dance to this music!" she planted her feet firmly into the cobblestone street.

She really wasn't in the mood to...

"I'll show you."

"I will just stand here and watch."

He raised an eyebrow without loosing his amused smile.

"But that's no fun!"

The blonde didn't like his teasing tone. It promised actions.

"Oh, I can assure you it is plenty of – Hey!"

Ignoring all protest, Blank finally grabbed her wrist and marched right into the moving pulp. By the time he let go of her hand and turned to face her, they were completely surrounded.

"Fine," Mikoto sighed with the resigned acceptance of a maiden sacrifice,"Show me."

He grinned and stepped a little closer.

"Put your feet on mine."

She looked at him sceptically.

The grin turned into a new smirk as he – without further ado – took hold of her waist, lifted her feet off the floor and placed them on his boots.

"Hold on tight." he cautioned, only slightly surprised as her tail wrapped around his calf. He looked down at her. She obviously hadn't noticed. He grinned.

A gentleman never tells.

Meanwhile a certain woman slung her arms around his middle and did just as she had been told, feeling a little unbalanced already. With chagrin she noticed her tutor was yet to do his first step.

Slowly, Mikoto got used to the odd sensation of being moved. This dance wasn't all that bad and she started to enjoy his teaching methods, except for...

"They are looking at me." she mumbled into his chest, feeling uncomfortable.

The redhead blinked, taking a look around. She was right. The music had taken on a faster rhythm, prompting the couples to dance further apart.

"Don't worry, half of their stares are aimed at me." he remarked mockingly.

Mikoto lifted her head and couldn't prevent the teasing smile on her lips "Good thing you are not self-assertive."

His eyes twinkle with mischief. He had come to enjoyed their little banters a lot and wasn't about to let her have the last word this time.

"No, I'm being really modest here. You see, half of those stares come from men who wish you'd dance with them instead of me."

"And the other half?"

Blank smiled. It was just like her to keep a close enough track on a conversation to notice those loopholes.

"Oh, that are the women who'd like to be in your shoes."

"Real modest, eh?"

"Oh, hush!" he playfully tucked her head back under his jaw.

Mikoto felt the portentous feeling of blood rushing into her cheeks, an unasked for physical reaction that had occurred definitely too frequently during the last weeks.

* * *

You just gotta love those two, don't cha? XD

Please review!


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